Recently launched Oysters - Oyster Yachts
Recently launched Oysters - Oyster Yachts
Recently launched Oysters - Oyster Yachts
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF OYSTER ISSUE N 73 WINTER 2011<br />
O<br />
IN THIS ISSUE – THE NEW OYSTER 825, OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
AND THE OYSTER 100 REVIEW
CONTENTS<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
ISSUE N O 73 WINTER 2011<br />
�� �� �� ��<br />
��� �WELCOME�<br />
David Tydeman<br />
��� �OYSTER LIFE<br />
News from the World of <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
��� �OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
Louay Habib<br />
��� OYSTER AT THE BOAT SHOWS<br />
��� �THE WONDERFUL WORLD<br />
BELOW THE WAVES<br />
Virginia Dimsey<br />
��� �THE OYSTER 100 BY DUBOIS<br />
FRONT COVER PICTURE<br />
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS<br />
Photo: Mike Jones<br />
Louay Habib<br />
� e <strong>Oyster</strong> 625, Blue Jeannie<br />
in the emerald waters of<br />
Jonathon Medway<br />
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia PRODUCTION EDITOR<br />
EDITOR<br />
Liz Whitman<br />
Rebecca Twiss<br />
��� �OYSTER DESIGN REVIEW<br />
��� �INTRODUCING THE NEW OYSTER 825<br />
��� �ROW TO THE POLE<br />
Jock Wishart<br />
��� �MISS TIPPY – REFLECTIONS<br />
Brian and Sheila Norton<br />
��� �OYSTER CUSTOMER SERVICES<br />
��� �DOWNWIND SAILING<br />
Matthew Vincent<br />
��� �SULANA IN NOVA SCOTIA<br />
James Grazebrook<br />
FROM THE EDITOR<br />
We publish <strong>Oyster</strong> News twice a year and we know from our readers that<br />
the articles they most enjoy reading about are the contributions from <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
owners. If you have a story to tell or information about cruising in your <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
please let us know. Photographs are always welcome with or without a story.<br />
email: liz.whitman@oystermarine.com<br />
or rebecca.twiss@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> News is published by <strong>Oyster</strong> Marine Ltd. <strong>Oyster</strong> News is for promotional purposes only, privately circulated, and cannot form part of any contract<br />
or off er. Views, details and information herein are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher who will not be held responsible for the consequences of any<br />
error or omission. Pictures and illustrations are liable to show non standard equipment.<br />
�� ��<br />
��� �OYSTER WORLD RALLY<br />
��� �GONE WITH THE WIND<br />
Stephen Hyde<br />
��� �INDIA<br />
Liz Cleere and Jamie Furlong<br />
��� �THE 26TH ARC<br />
Jonathon Medway<br />
���� �OUR CRUISING LIFE<br />
Mike and Devala Robinson<br />
���� ON THEIR WAY
WELCOME<br />
In this complicated world that we find ourselves living in, it is great to read the latest stories<br />
of <strong>Oyster</strong> owners as they escape and adventure across the high seas and to know that here<br />
at <strong>Oyster</strong> we have played a small part in realising those dreams and ambitions.<br />
Health, time and the means to be able to go sailing are o�en thought<br />
about in reverse order and I reflect on one <strong>Oyster</strong> owner who two years<br />
ago was diagnosed with having only a few months to live. I’m delighted<br />
to note that he is currently enjoying a long passage aboard his new <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
and keeping the doctors at bay!<br />
We all have different reasons to choose to buy a yacht and four out<br />
of the first five of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625s were sold to owners new to <strong>Oyster</strong>.<br />
In contrast, hull numbers 6 to 10 have been sold to existing owners trading<br />
up and, as I write this, we’ve just signed the contract on the third new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 885 to an existing <strong>Oyster</strong> owner for July 2013 delivery.<br />
A�er four years of hard work, the <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 by Dubois is now sailing,<br />
and she is a delight – her Dubois hull lines are clean and she slips along<br />
beautifully, a credit to all who have been involved in her design, project<br />
management and build and she is already attracting much acclaim from<br />
the yachting press.<br />
We’re planning some exciting developments with our team based in<br />
Southampton. Plans include expanding how we use the specialist knowledge<br />
in our Custom and Refit subsidiary, Southampton Yacht Services, opening the<br />
door to new ideas and creating an <strong>Oyster</strong> ‘big boat’ centre in the Solent.<br />
We have over 30 yachts signed up for the <strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally, which sets<br />
out from Antigua on 6 January 2013, with a waiting list for this first event and<br />
many requests for us to run another one. We’ll contemplate that once the<br />
first event is underway, with the earliest possible start being January 2015.<br />
WINTER 2011<br />
�e 27th <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta took place in Palma this September with<br />
30 yachts from nine different countries, ranging from Brazil to Russia,<br />
taking part. Next year, through popular demand, we plan to provide<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> owners with a Regatta in the British Virgin Islands in April,<br />
a Rendezvous in Newport RI, USA, linked to the America’s Cup Series<br />
in June, a Regatta hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes<br />
to celebrate the London Olympics in July and a return to Palma<br />
in September for our annual Mediterranean regatta.<br />
My thanks, as ever, for the passionate hard work by all the team<br />
here at <strong>Oyster</strong>, without whom none of this would be possible.<br />
Sincere regards to you all,<br />
David Tydeman<br />
CEO, <strong>Oyster</strong> Group<br />
david.tydeman@oystermarine.com<br />
3
4<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> life H<br />
OYSTER 625 ON SHOW IN GERMANY AND MIAMI<br />
�e stunning, new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625, nominated<br />
for the European Yacht of the Year, will<br />
make her German and American debuts<br />
at the start of 2012. <strong>Oyster</strong> 625/03 will<br />
be certain to attract a lot of attention<br />
at Boot Düsseldorf in January, whilst<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625/02 will cross the Atlantic<br />
before heading to Florida where she<br />
will make her US debut at the Miami<br />
International Yacht Show in February.<br />
�e perfect excuse to plan a holiday<br />
in the Florida sunshine!<br />
NEW OYSTER 825 LAUNCHED<br />
Announced at the end of 2011, the<br />
sale of the first of the exceptional,<br />
new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825s, is already agreed<br />
with a European buyer for delivery<br />
in 2013. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> 825, with clean<br />
and easily driven hull lines drawn<br />
by Rob Humphreys and detailed<br />
engineering developed by the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
E A D L I N E S FRO M<br />
THE WORLD OF OYSTER<br />
BIG GUNS SET FOR ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK<br />
�e stunning <strong>Oyster</strong> 82, Starry Night of the Caribbean,<br />
will be gracing the waters off Antigua next year where she<br />
will be racing against many well known yachts in the big<br />
boat division of this annual sailing spectacular, including<br />
the magnificent Drumfire, winner of this year’s Superyacht<br />
Cup in Palma and Peter Harrison’s Sojana, winner of this<br />
year’s Lord Nelson Trophy. Starry Night will start her<br />
Caribbean campaign with some gentle practice at next<br />
year’s <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta in the BVI in April.<br />
Design Team, features <strong>Oyster</strong>’s latest<br />
striking and contemporary styling,<br />
first seen with the highly successful<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625, of which 10 are now<br />
already sold. Tooling is already well<br />
underway and production will start at<br />
Southampton Yacht Services early in<br />
2012. See pages 41-43 for more details.
OYSTER REGATTAS 2012<br />
OYSTER LIFE<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s in-house marketing and events team are preparing for another busy year with a number<br />
of events planned exclusively for <strong>Oyster</strong> owners to enjoy with their family and friends.<br />
BVI 2 – 7 APRIL 2012<br />
Always a favourite destination, the beautiful British Virgin Islands never fail to provide a stunning<br />
location for an <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta and we look forward to seeing a large fleet of <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> on the<br />
docks at Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola for the start of our fi�h BVI regatta. �e fleet will race around<br />
the chain of islands, which will include a two-night stay and Lay Day at the famous Bitter End<br />
Yacht Club.<br />
COWES 9 – 14 JULY 2012<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s Cowes Regatta, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and planned to celebrate the 2012<br />
London Olympics, is already attracting a large fleet of <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong>. Owners can look forward to<br />
enjoying the impeccable hospitality at the Squadron’s stately Castle overlooking the Solent and the<br />
really unique opportunity to dine aboard HMS Warrior, Britain’s first iron-hulled warship, <strong>launched</strong> in<br />
1860. A special Olympic year J-Class event, which is expected to attract the largest fleet of J-Class<br />
yachts ever seen racing together in the Solent, starts on 18 July, just a�er the <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta, and is<br />
sure to provide a stunning spectacle. �ere will be no better place to view this event than from the<br />
deck of your <strong>Oyster</strong>!<br />
PALMA 25 – 29 SEPTEMBER 2012<br />
Our 2011 regatta saw a record fleet of 30 <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> grace the docks at the beautiful<br />
Real Club Nautico, provisional plans are in place for the Club to host another event in 2012.<br />
For further information on any of these regattas please contact Jacqui Kotze at:<br />
+44 (0)1473 688 888 or email: jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com<br />
AROUND THE WORLD OYSTERS<br />
Peter and Virginia Dimsey recently<br />
completed their circumnavigation when<br />
they sailed their <strong>Oyster</strong> 62, Saildance II<br />
back into Southampton Water, flying the<br />
courtesy flags of some of the 50 places<br />
they had visited on their way around<br />
the world. Saildance II was built at<br />
Southampton Yacht Services and she<br />
returned almost exactly six years to<br />
the day she set out. Peter commented:<br />
“Don’t wait, go as soon as you can. It is<br />
the experience of a lifetime. Your <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
can take you to places most people don’t<br />
even know exist.”<br />
Also completing circumnavigations<br />
this year were Brian Oakley and Jacqui<br />
Palmer with their <strong>Oyster</strong> 39, Songster,<br />
which was <strong>launched</strong> in 1979. Brian and<br />
Jacqui set out from the Mediterranean<br />
in May 2002 and returned this year.<br />
Chris Smith and Fiona Campbell completed<br />
their 12-year circumnavigation in their<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 55 Carelbi when they returned<br />
to Crete in April this year, having set out<br />
in 1999.<br />
65 DEGREES SOUTH – UHURU’S SOUTHERN ADVENTURE<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> is hosting an illustrated talk by the owner of <strong>Oyster</strong> 62 UHURU, Steve Powell,<br />
and Richard Haworth of High Latitudes, about their cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula.<br />
�e event will start at 11:00 and is being held at the London Boat Show at ExCeL on<br />
Sunday 8 January. You can read about Steve’s trip in <strong>Oyster</strong> News issue 72, available<br />
online in the News section of the <strong>Oyster</strong> website.<br />
For further information, or to apply for tickets, which are with <strong>Oyster</strong>’s compliments,<br />
please contact: jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com<br />
WINTER 2011 5
6<br />
OYSTERS IN THE BIG APPLE<br />
NEWPORT RENDEZVOUS – JUNE/JULY 2012<br />
Timed to coincide with the America’s Cup World Series,<br />
which takes place in Newport from 23 June to 1 July, planning<br />
is underway for a Newport <strong>Oyster</strong> Rendezvous. It’s expected<br />
the programme will include dinner at the Herreshoff Museum,<br />
some low-key racing and the opportunity to spectate<br />
the America’s Cup on water activity. Owners who would<br />
like to take part should register their interest with<br />
Molly Marston in our US o�ce, call: +1 401 846 7400<br />
or email: molly.marston@oystermarine.com<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OWNERS PARTY IN<br />
ANNAPOLIS<br />
Alan and Sue Brook’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Sulana,<br />
and John Noble’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Neki,<br />
both sailed into New York in style earlier<br />
this year. As Alan on Sulana recalls:<br />
“We had the wonderful experience of<br />
being met by no less than five Police<br />
and US Coastguard vessels, all with<br />
blue lights flashing, who stopped us<br />
just before we were due to go under<br />
the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the<br />
double-decked suspension bridge at the<br />
gateway into New York Harbor and the<br />
Hudson River! Sulana was cornered off<br />
by the giant RIBs and patrol cra� of the<br />
New York Police Department, New Jersey<br />
Harbour Police, Environmental Agency<br />
Police and the Coastguard. �ey never<br />
did say why we had been stopped, but<br />
they suddenly all disappeared, heading<br />
into the distance, at the same time<br />
shouting to us to have a nice day!”<br />
Owners were out in force at<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s annual Annapolis Show<br />
party in October, during which<br />
Sales Director, Robin Campbell,<br />
was delighted to present Tom<br />
and Gretchen Carbaugh with<br />
their <strong>Oyster</strong> Circumnavigator’s<br />
award. Tom and Gretchen’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 53, Glass Slipper,<br />
is the 40th <strong>Oyster</strong> to complete<br />
a circumnavigation. �e Carbaugh’s<br />
set out from Lanzarote in 2002,<br />
returning there earlier this year. Tom commented: “�e <strong>Oyster</strong> team<br />
has been fundamental to our successful circumnavigation which<br />
is mightily appreciated!”<br />
NEW PALMA BASE FOR OYSTER<br />
We are delighted to be able to<br />
announce the opening of a new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> O�ce in Palma, Mallorca,<br />
which will offer owners and their crews<br />
a convenient Mediterranean location for<br />
Customer Service and Support and an<br />
alternative base afloat for some of the<br />
<strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> on the Brokerage listings.<br />
�e o�ce, which will be fully open<br />
by the start of 2012, is located in the<br />
STP Shipyard, close to the city centre<br />
and will be manned by our own team<br />
with representatives from our Customer<br />
Service, Brokerage and Charter<br />
operations. �ose owners with crew<br />
may like to make them aware of this<br />
facility, where they will be very welcome<br />
to use the o�ce as their home base for<br />
Wi-Fi access and post when in Mallorca.<br />
If you would like to know more<br />
or have any queries please don’t<br />
hesitate to contact us at<br />
customerservice@oystermarine.com
OYSTER TEAM ON BOARD HMS DAUNTLESS<br />
OYSTER LIFE<br />
WORLD CHAMPION SAILOR<br />
Congratulations to <strong>Oyster</strong> Production Director,<br />
Mike Taylor’s son, Will Taylor, who at just 14 years old<br />
sailed his way to victory in the recent RS Tera World<br />
Championships in Denmark to take the World Title<br />
in style. Will’s lead was so convincing that he had a<br />
whole day (two races) to spare over nearest rivals,<br />
the Italian team. Despite a couple of poor starts,<br />
Will gave a master class to the fleet on how to sail<br />
a boat quickly, dominating the fleet with outstanding<br />
pace and consistency throughout the championship.<br />
Four members of the team from the <strong>Oyster</strong> Group were invited to join the Royal Navy’s<br />
HMS Dauntless for an overnight passage from Portsmouth to London. Sarah Harmer, Customer<br />
Service Manager, Alan Harmer, Project Manager, Regine Watts, Sales Administrator and Barry<br />
Argent from Southampton Yacht Services, were the lucky ones whose names were drawn<br />
out of the hat to make the trip, which included ‘hands-on’ demonstrations in firing the guns<br />
and a helicopter ride from the flight deck and back to the ship whilst she was underway.<br />
An experience that the <strong>Oyster</strong> team all agreed that money just couldn’t buy.<br />
GENOA SHOW VISIT FROM AMBASSADOR<br />
Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Italy, Sir Christopher Prentice, Head of UK Trade & Investment at the<br />
British Consulate, took the opportunity to view the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 during his visit to the recent<br />
Genoa Boat Show. A�er a detailed tour of the yacht, he was full of praise for the exemplary<br />
British cra�smanship on display.<br />
OYSTER EVENTS<br />
2012<br />
London Boat Show<br />
6 – 15 January<br />
London Owners’ Dinner<br />
7 January<br />
65 Degrees South (Illustrated Talk)<br />
8 January<br />
Boot Düsseldorf<br />
21 – 29 January<br />
Miami Boat Show<br />
16 – 20 February<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta – BVI<br />
2 – 7 April<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Private View, London<br />
25 – 29 April<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage Spring Boat Show<br />
18 – 20 May<br />
Newport Rendezvous (TBA)<br />
Dates to be announced<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta – Cowes<br />
9 – 14 July<br />
Orust Open Yards Event<br />
24 – 26 August<br />
HISWA In-Water Show<br />
4 – 9 September<br />
Festival De La Plaisance Cannes<br />
12 – 17 September<br />
Newport Boat Show<br />
13 –16 September<br />
Southampton Boat Show<br />
14 – 23 September<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage Autumn Boat Show<br />
14 – 23 September<br />
Monaco Yacht Show<br />
19 – 22 September<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Private View – Palma<br />
22 – 23 September<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta – Palma<br />
25 – 29 September<br />
Annapolis Sailboat Show<br />
4 – 8 October<br />
Annapolis Owners’ Party<br />
5 October<br />
Genoa Boat Show<br />
6 – 14 October<br />
Hamburg Boat Show<br />
27 October – 4 November<br />
Hamburg Owners’ Dinner<br />
27 October<br />
ARC Party<br />
22 November<br />
ARC Start<br />
25 November<br />
2013<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally Start<br />
6 January<br />
WINTER 2011 7
8<br />
OYSTER NEWS
O Y S T E R P A L M A<br />
R E A L C L U B N A U T I C O D E P A L M A<br />
Mallorca has been a great favourite with <strong>Oyster</strong> owners over the years and <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Palma Regatta was once again<br />
extremely popular with a record number of 30 <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> taking part, representing owners from nine different nationalities.<br />
It was especially satisfying to see eleven new owners joining in the fun for the first time with their new <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong>.<br />
B Y L O U A Y H A B I B<br />
WINTER 2011 9
10<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
A RECORD FLEET OF 30 OYSTER YACHTS, FLYING THE FLAGS<br />
OF BRAZIL, GERMANY, HOLLAND, ITALY, RUSSIA, SOUTH<br />
AFRICA, SPAIN, SWITZERLAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM<br />
GATHERED ON THE IDYLLIC MEDITERRANEAN ISLAND OF<br />
MALLORCA FOR THE OYSTER PALMA REGATTA, THE 27TH<br />
EVENT IN THE OYSTER REGATTA SERIES.<br />
Above from le� to right:<br />
Richard Smith’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655,<br />
Sotto Vento<br />
David Tydeman, CEO,<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Group<br />
Heinrich Schulte and family,<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Anabasis<br />
�e <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet, Real Club Nautico<br />
Michael Jones’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655<br />
Blue Horizon<br />
Proving that <strong>Oyster</strong> regattas are as popular<br />
as ever with owners, this event showcased<br />
13 different examples of the distinctive <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
range, from the <strong>Oyster</strong> 46 to the <strong>Oyster</strong> 82.<br />
�e regatta programme included five races<br />
in the spectacular Bay of Palma and further<br />
afield to the ancient town of Andraitx on the<br />
southwest tip of Mallorca. <strong>Oyster</strong> regattas<br />
are organised exclusively for owners and<br />
their guests and besides well-managed<br />
racing, the fleet benefits from world-class<br />
customer service and technical support,<br />
provided by experienced <strong>Oyster</strong> staff and<br />
their regatta partners, represented by Dolphin<br />
Sails, Formula Marine, Lewmar Navtec,<br />
Pantaenius, Pelagos <strong>Yachts</strong>, Raymarine<br />
and Reckmann.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> owners, their families and guests<br />
gathered at the prestigious Real Club Nautico<br />
at the heart of the Mallorcan capital, for a week<br />
of champagne sailing and great parties, sharing<br />
a grand occasion with like-minded people from<br />
the world over. Richard Smith sailing his <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
655, Sotto Vento is a veteran of 12 previous<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> regattas: “�is will be my fourth regatta<br />
in Palma but I also love the variety of locations,<br />
Sardinia, the British Virgin Islands, Grenada,<br />
Antigua, they are all spectacular venues that<br />
I have fond memories of. Purely and simply,<br />
I really enjoy the <strong>Oyster</strong> events and that<br />
is why I take part. �e crew of Sotto Vento<br />
are all friends from home, I wouldn’t have<br />
it any other way, it adds to the fun and the<br />
excitement because we sail the boat ourselves<br />
rather than have a professional crew sail the<br />
boat for us, for me that is so rewarding.”
In sharp contrast, Michael Jones was sailing at his<br />
first <strong>Oyster</strong> regatta on board his new <strong>Oyster</strong> 655,<br />
Blue Horizon of London. Michael and his crew<br />
sailed the boat to Palma from the <strong>Oyster</strong> yard<br />
in Ipswich this August and it was Michael’s first<br />
experience of offshore sailing. “I have very little<br />
sailing experience and to be honest, I only<br />
decided to enter the regatta at the last minute.<br />
We have received a very warm welcome and<br />
encouragement from all the <strong>Oyster</strong> team and<br />
other owners and crews, everybody has been<br />
so helpful. We hope to gain experience this week<br />
and learn as much as we can and this is a perfect<br />
environment to do that.”<br />
�e team at <strong>Oyster</strong> pride themselves on providing<br />
exceptional service to owners of <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts<br />
and the regatta programme is very much part<br />
of that ethos of customer care. <strong>Oyster</strong>’s service<br />
and support team is present at every regatta,<br />
OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
enabling owners to obtain expert advice and<br />
guidance in maintaining and, above all, enjoying<br />
sailing their <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong>. It’s details like this that ensure<br />
buying and owning an <strong>Oyster</strong> is an experience<br />
that is second to none.<br />
Prior to the start of the racing, the dockside at the<br />
Real Club Nautico was a hive of activity as crews<br />
meticulously prepared their yachts for the judging<br />
of the Concours d’Elegance, which this year was<br />
presented by the Real Club Nautico.<br />
A key feature of every <strong>Oyster</strong> regatta is the<br />
spectacular programme of social events and<br />
once the formalities of the Skippers’ Briefing<br />
was completed, the terrace of the Real Club<br />
Nautico, flanked by the magnificent <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
fleet, provided a fitting venue for the welcome<br />
cocktail party and barbecue supper at which<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> family had plenty of opportunity<br />
to enjoy each other’s company.<br />
“The <strong>Oyster</strong> Regattas are just perfect.<br />
These fun, social events were the<br />
main reason I purchased a new yacht<br />
and to helm my first race from start<br />
to finish in Palma made it the best<br />
regatta ever for me!”<br />
Richard Smith <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Sotto Vento<br />
WINTER 2011 11
12<br />
� e Bay of Palma provided spectacular<br />
sailing conditions for the fi rst day of<br />
racing. � e impressive fl eet included<br />
Dario Galvão’s beautifully engineered<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Solway Mist II, the fi rst<br />
Brazilian yacht to compete at an<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> regatta.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
RAYMARINE AND DOLPHIN SAILS RACE DAY<br />
� e Perfect Start<br />
“Back home in São Paulo, I like to race. I have<br />
a one-off design 25’ keelboat but I wanted<br />
a yacht that I could sail with my wife, Gina.”<br />
Explained Dario. “We had seen <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> in the<br />
Caribbean and we were impressed. Our good<br />
friends, André and Melissa Ribeiro are with<br />
us here in Palma and along with our boat captain<br />
and mate, Ian and Cindy. We have enough crew<br />
to handle the boat and there is still plenty of room<br />
for us all to live in comfort on board. I have really<br />
been looking forward to the regatta, racing<br />
yachts is a passion of mine and I am also very<br />
interested in meeting other <strong>Oyster</strong> owners,<br />
as I feel we have a lot in common. I hope it will<br />
be competitive on the water but still very<br />
friendly at all of the parties.”<br />
Racing started on schedule with a nine-mile<br />
windward leeward course, sponsored by <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Regatta partner, Raymarine. It proved to be<br />
a highly tactical race for the imposing <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
fl eet. Starts are always important but with a fl eet<br />
of such magnitude, getting away well and<br />
staying in clear air was very worthwhile. A� er<br />
a gentle beat to the top mark, the fl eet cracked<br />
sheets. It was an impressive sight as the bay<br />
became festooned with colourful spinnakers.<br />
To achieve the best result, competitors needed<br />
to remain fully focused, as all across the bay<br />
were small windless patches, which kept<br />
everyone on their toes. � e beat to the fi nish<br />
saw the breeze pipe up, especially off shore,<br />
where several yachts made substantial gains.<br />
A brief respite followed before a course was set<br />
for the second race of the day, sponsored by<br />
Dolphin Sails. A� er a somewhat conservative<br />
start to the fi rst race, the second race provided<br />
some tight action with yachts in close quarters<br />
during both class starts. However, <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
regattas are renowned for fair play and there<br />
was no cause for alarm. By the start, the breeze<br />
had built to about 12 knots and the <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet<br />
was fully powered up bound for the top mark.<br />
A tight reach was to follow and several<br />
competitors had to keep their concentration levels<br />
on high alert, fl ying spinnakers right on the edge.<br />
As the majority of the fl eet reached the bottom<br />
mark, the wind was starting to fade but only for<br />
a few minutes, before the sea breeze arrived in<br />
earnest, producing a dramatic change in wind<br />
direction. It was a fi nal twist to an exciting day<br />
with the wind turning right through 180 degrees.<br />
� ose who anticipated the swing in direction<br />
and were in a position to change tactics came<br />
out on top.<br />
A� er racing, crews mingled at the dockside bar<br />
at Real Club Nautico, discussing the day’s action<br />
over a cold drink and there were happy, smiling<br />
faces all round, especially from those crews that<br />
had gained podium places on the fi rst day. In Class 1,<br />
Bill Munro’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Boarding Pass III and<br />
Alberto Vignatelli’s stunning <strong>Oyster</strong> 72, AlbertOne 3<br />
were tied for second place a� er two races<br />
by virtue of both yachts scoring a second and<br />
a third. But the star of the show in Class 1 was<br />
Mike Freeman’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Can Do Too, the<br />
team had a superb day on the water winning<br />
both races.<br />
In Class 2, Gerd and Anne-Marie Köhlmoos’<br />
Hamburg based <strong>Oyster</strong> 54 Sarabande, fi nished<br />
the day well, taking second place in Race 2 and<br />
Wolfram Birkel’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Cat B, was very much<br />
in contention to take third. <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Legend III,<br />
skippered by Alan Du Toit and his South African<br />
crew had an encouraging start to the regatta,<br />
taking a third in Race 1. However, it was two British<br />
yachts, John Marshall’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Rock <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
and Alan Parker’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach that<br />
shared the spoils with a win each.<br />
A� er a great day’s racing, the <strong>Oyster</strong> festivities<br />
continued with an exclusive cocktail party on the<br />
terrace at the Mallorcan museum of modern art,<br />
Es Baluard, which provided a stunning setting.<br />
� e museum contains an outstanding collection<br />
of paintings, sculptures and ceramics by artists<br />
emerging from the late 19th Century, including<br />
Cézanne, Gauguin, Miro and Picasso. � e elevated<br />
terrace, in the ancient walled ramparts was an<br />
enchanting venue for the <strong>Oyster</strong> family to enjoy<br />
a relaxing evening of live music, fi ne wine and<br />
local delicacies, amidst wonderful views of the<br />
Bay of Palma and the beautiful fl oodlit Cathedral.<br />
Le� Page<br />
Above le� : Dario Galvão’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Solway Mist<br />
Above: � e crew of <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Olanta<br />
Below: Bill Munro’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575,<br />
Boarding Pass III<br />
Right Page<br />
Top: � e <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet in the Bay of Palma<br />
Bottom: Mike Freeman’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Can Do Too
OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
“We enjoyed the regatta immensely<br />
and thought the organisation was<br />
excellent. Thanks for a great event.”<br />
Paul & Caroline Frew <strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Juno<br />
WINTER 2011 13
14<br />
LEWMAR RACE DAY<br />
Escapade to Andraitx<br />
Although the start for the second<br />
day of racing was only a short hop<br />
out of the Bay of Palma, it was an early<br />
start for the <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet in preparation<br />
for Race 3, a 20-mile coastal race<br />
sponsored by <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta partner,<br />
Lewmar, to the enchanting Puerto<br />
Andraitx. With great e�ciency,<br />
the 30-yacht <strong>Oyster</strong> armada le�<br />
Real Club Nautico to make their way<br />
to the starting area and on to Andraitx,<br />
where the <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet would spend<br />
a night away from Palma.<br />
Sailing on board the beautiful <strong>Oyster</strong> 54,<br />
Light Lana were three members of the<br />
Bayerisher Yacht Club, Hansjochen Bludau,<br />
Heinz Löhr and Oliver Glück, guests of <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Marine at the regatta by way of the German<br />
yacht club winning the Ski Yachting competition<br />
run by the prestigious Gstaad Yacht Club,<br />
an event which is supported by <strong>Oyster</strong>.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
Heinz Löhr first came to Palma in 1973 and the<br />
island has changed significantly since then as he<br />
explains. “I came here for the first time nearly<br />
40 years ago and Andraitx was just a little fishing<br />
village then, it is very different now, but the yacht<br />
club swimming pool will be a great place to cool<br />
down a�er today’s race. My sincere thanks for the<br />
invitation to take part in the <strong>Oyster</strong> Palma Regatta<br />
and becoming a member of the <strong>Oyster</strong> family.<br />
I am thoroughly enjoying the friendly atmosphere<br />
and excellent organisation. In Munich we race<br />
Dragons on the lake, sailing on Light Lana is quite<br />
a different experience.”<br />
A light northeasterly breeze provided a downwind<br />
start for the race to Andraitx with many yachts<br />
choosing to fly spinnakers bound for the Cala<br />
Figuera lighthouse, which marks the entrance<br />
to the sparkling bay. �e first leg of the course<br />
tested boat-handling skills, as yachts gybed<br />
back and forth to stay in the best pressure.<br />
Gerd and Anne-Marie Köhlmoos sailing their<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Sarabande got away well under<br />
spinnaker and showed a clean pair of heels to<br />
the rest of the fleet, choosing to sail out into the<br />
middle of the bay. However, Mike Freeman’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Can Do Too, decided on a different<br />
approach, hugging the coastline under Genoa.<br />
�e race was a light wind affair, requiring<br />
concentration from sail trimmers, using every<br />
puff of wind at their disposal. By the time the<br />
race leaders reached the end of the bay, a weak<br />
sea breeze started to form, counteracting the<br />
gradient wind and yachts were struggling for<br />
speed. <strong>Oyster</strong> Race O�cer, John Grandy, made<br />
the decision to shorten the course due to lack<br />
of wind at Islas el Toro.<br />
In Class 2, Alberto Vignatelli’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 72,<br />
AlbertOne 3 , continued their consistent form<br />
by taking third place. Whilst Dario Galvão’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Solway Mist II had another great<br />
day on the water taking second place. Mike<br />
Freeman’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Can Do Too made it<br />
a hat-trick, taking their third win in a row.<br />
However, the class was proving extremely<br />
competitive, Richard Smith’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655,<br />
Sotto Vento, and the <strong>Oyster</strong> 82,<br />
Starry Night of the Caribbean, whose owners<br />
are veterans of 25 <strong>Oyster</strong> regattas between<br />
them, were also in the hunt for the prizes.<br />
In Class 1, Gerd and Anne-Marie Köhlmoos’<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Sarabande sailed a near-perfect<br />
race, to take line honours and win by over ten<br />
minutes a�er time correction. Rudolph Kagi and
OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
his crew on the <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Magic Spirit scored<br />
their fi rst podium fi nish by taking third place and<br />
Stuart and Carolyn Popham’s Spirit of Spring<br />
was delighted with second place. “Sarabande<br />
sailed extremely well to win the day but with fi ve<br />
well-sailed <strong>Oyster</strong> 56s, we are having some close<br />
battles within the class. I have to admit, it was very<br />
satisfying to get through the line before the<br />
others today, it will make tonight’s festivities even<br />
more pleasurable,” beamed Stuart Popham.<br />
A� er fi nishing racing, the <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet enjoyed the<br />
stunning views of the cliff s along the southwest tip<br />
of Mallorca, including the gateway to Puerto<br />
Andraitx, Cap de sa Mola. � e rocky headland<br />
is 130 metres high, a breathtaking sheer rock<br />
face, plunging into crystalline blue waters, giving<br />
one of the most dramatic views anywhere in the<br />
Balearic Islands. Puerto Andraitx is a veritable<br />
paradise and the <strong>Oyster</strong> family enjoyed the full<br />
hospitality of the yacht club before being taken<br />
by specially chartered coaches for dinner at the<br />
Bodegas Santa Catarina Vineyard, set in one<br />
of the most beautiful valleys of the Sierra<br />
de Tramuntana. � e award-winning wines are<br />
produced from local and international grape<br />
varieties and the <strong>Oyster</strong> family were treated<br />
to a refreshing Prensal Blanc on arrival, followed<br />
by a rich and complex Cabernet Sauvignon, all<br />
grown and produced on the estate. A traditional<br />
paella, cooked in giant-sized authentic paella<br />
pans during the wine tasting, was served inside<br />
the majestic barrel vaulted stone wine store.<br />
A magnifi cent setting and a rare treat laid on<br />
especially for <strong>Oyster</strong> owners and guests taking<br />
part in <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Regatta.<br />
Clockwise from far le� : <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Light Lana<br />
Paul & Caroline Frew’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 Juno<br />
Close racing between the <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Anabasis<br />
and 54 <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach<br />
Alan Parker’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach<br />
Stuart & Carolyn Popham’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 56,<br />
Spirit of Spring<br />
Jonathan & Jane Mould’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 72, Koluka<br />
Dinner at the Bodegas Santa Catarina Vineyard<br />
WINTER 2011 15
16<br />
PELAGOS YACHTS RACE DAY<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Snakes and Ladders<br />
Puerto Andraitx had been a<br />
wonderfully tranquil haven for the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> fleet, but by early next morning,<br />
a warm breeze was blowing through<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> rigging, promising fair<br />
winds for Race 4, sponsored by <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Regatta partner, Pelagos <strong>Yachts</strong>.<br />
The 30 strong <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet gathered in the<br />
starting area, as a solid northeasterly breeze filled<br />
sails. �e competing yachts jostled for position<br />
eager to start the race back to the Real Club<br />
Nautico. Several yachts were too early and were<br />
called over the line including John Marshall’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Rock <strong>Oyster</strong>. However, Wolfram<br />
Birkel’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Cat B got away well, claiming<br />
the pin end of the line with precision. Wolfram<br />
and his son Christoph share the helm on Cat B<br />
and the family team all come from Germany. �is<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta was the first time they had raced<br />
the yacht, having taken delivery of Cat B a year<br />
ago and the team had come to Palma with one<br />
clear goal; to have as much fun as they could<br />
possibly manage.<br />
“We want to sail well and get good results but<br />
having fun is far more important,” explained<br />
Wolfram. “Last year, we kept Cat B in �e Baltic,<br />
which is a great place to sail but the weather<br />
is nothing like as good as the Mediterranean,<br />
here the sun shines nine months of the year<br />
and for this regatta the warm sunshine is just<br />
fantastic. I have been especially delighted by<br />
how <strong>Oyster</strong> have organised this event, a really<br />
first-class job but I have been a little surprised<br />
by how competitive the racing has been! �e<br />
regatta has been fun from the start and an ideal<br />
way to get good sailing experience, you can<br />
learn so much in a short period of time when<br />
you are sailing everyday against similar yachts.<br />
However, we never forget the primary reason<br />
for us to be here is to have a really great time.”<br />
�e race from Andraitx provided some fast<br />
upwind action along the rugged southwest<br />
coastline, the <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet was an impressive<br />
sight, exhibiting power and grace, swapping<br />
OYSTER NEWS
Le� : � e <strong>Oyster</strong> 82, Starry Night<br />
Top right: � e <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet off the stunning<br />
Mallorcan coastline<br />
Bottom right: <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Legend III and<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 66 Goodwinds<br />
tacks in close quarters. However, as the fl eet<br />
progressed towards the Bay of Palma, the wind<br />
started to become very unstable with substantial<br />
shi� s in wind direction and speed, creating<br />
a game of snakes and ladders. <strong>Yachts</strong> were<br />
swapping places at regular intervals and<br />
approaching the entrance to the bay, a windless<br />
zone became apparent, negotiating this area<br />
became the defi ning moment of the race, as<br />
a fresh breeze awaited those who were successful.<br />
In Class 1, Paul and Caroline Frew, sailing their new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Juno of London in their fi rst regatta,<br />
scored their fi rst podium fi nish, narrowly edging<br />
out Dario Galvão’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Solway Mist II,<br />
to take third place. Mike Freeman’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575,<br />
Can Do Too was second but it was Alberto<br />
Vignatelli’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 72, AlbertOne 3 that claimed<br />
victory. Showing acute tactical awareness and<br />
superb acceleration across the bay. Vignatelli’s<br />
team took line honours by an impressive<br />
14 minutes and their fi rst win of the regatta<br />
on corrected time.<br />
The coastal race also proved to be a highly<br />
competitive contest for Class 2. After time<br />
correction, the top six yachts fi nished within ten<br />
minutes of each other in a contest lasting three<br />
hours. Alan Parker’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach<br />
was having a battle royale with John Marshall’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> for the entire regatta<br />
and the race back to Palma was no exception.<br />
In a photo fi nish, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach took second<br />
place by just four seconds from Rock <strong>Oyster</strong>,<br />
which had staged a remarkable recovery from<br />
their penalty at the start. However, the winner<br />
in Class 1 was Alan Du Toit’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, Legend III<br />
taking line honours and the win by just<br />
two minutes.<br />
OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
Cape Town’s Kevin Stocks revealed the South<br />
African team’s secret weapon. “Coming from the<br />
Cape, we really appreciate good wine and last<br />
night’s party at the Santa Catarina winery was<br />
the boost that the team needed! It was a hard<br />
fought win today, we are really enjoying the<br />
close competition and the enormous amount<br />
of good spirit in the <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet. � is regatta<br />
is a marvellous way to enjoy the island.”<br />
A� er racing, a complimentary cocktail party was<br />
attended by 250 <strong>Oyster</strong> owners and their guests<br />
on the terrace of the Real Club Nautico. Puerto<br />
Andraitx had been a delightful and serene<br />
excursion away from Palma, a fi ne example of the<br />
many delightful locations that Mallorca can off er.<br />
A� er three days of racing and socialising, an early<br />
night was preferred by some, while those with<br />
enough energy ventured into Palma to enjoy the<br />
hospitality of one of Europe’s most vibrant cities.<br />
“The venues, racing, hospitality and<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> camaraderie were all up to<br />
the usual fantastic standards and you<br />
even managed to perfect the weather<br />
as well. All aboard Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> had a<br />
load of fun and were glad to get back<br />
to work for a rest!”<br />
Robert Chelsom <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Rock <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
WINTER 2011 17
18<br />
PANTAENIUS RACE DAY<br />
In Pursuit of Excellence<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
For the last day of racing, the Bay of Palma provided a steady breeze<br />
and sublime sunshine for the Pantaenius Pursuit Race. Adding a new<br />
dimension to <strong>Oyster</strong> racing, yachts were given a staggered start.<br />
� e sequence and time-delay were decided by how well each yacht and<br />
crew had performed during the regatta. � e pursuit race did not count<br />
as part of the overall series but was designed as a novel way of ending<br />
what had been a very enjoyable gathering of <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts.<br />
Above: � e Class 1 fl eet led by the <strong>Oyster</strong> 655,<br />
Solway Mist II<br />
Opposite page:<br />
Top le� : Prize-giving party at Casa de sa Font Seca<br />
Top right: Alan Parker’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach<br />
Bottom le� : Palma Regatta prizes awaiting recipients!<br />
Bottom right: Paul and Caroline Frew and friends,<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575 Juno<br />
� e triangular course was designed to test<br />
boat-handling skills at diff erent points of sail and<br />
produced some thrilling action, creating a new<br />
dimension to the competition. In previous races<br />
the faster yachts had been able to sail away<br />
from the fl eet into clear air but on this type of<br />
course, the swi� yachts in the fl eet would need<br />
to overtake the early starters. � e pursuit race<br />
was like a game of cat and mouse; a fast<br />
reaching start allowed the smaller yachts to<br />
speed away, whilst the larger yachts waited,<br />
prowling impatiently in the starting area.<br />
� e magnifi cent <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet enjoyed some<br />
of the highest wind speeds of the week and<br />
the tight course produced many battles<br />
within the three-hour race.<br />
“I have been sailing the boat a lot this year,<br />
so I think that has made a bit of a diff erence.”<br />
commented, Alan Parker, owner of <strong>Oyster</strong> 54,
<strong>Oyster</strong> Reach. “�is is my second regatta and<br />
we feel far more confident with the boat – our<br />
first regatta was nowhere near as successful,<br />
I didn’t dare look at the results! �is is the first<br />
time I have had the boat in the Mediterranean<br />
and I was able to sail the yacht most of the<br />
way myself. �is was made possible because<br />
there has been a quantum leap in maritime<br />
communications in recent years, which has<br />
enabled me to stay fully in touch whilst out<br />
at sea. <strong>Oyster</strong> regattas are a perfect way to<br />
enjoy sailing with good company, it is the<br />
main reason we all come.”<br />
Alan Parker’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 54, <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach and<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> 82, Starry Night of the Caribbean<br />
produced a sensational final leg of the pursuit<br />
race with a spinnaker-lu�ng match for a fight<br />
to the finish. Starry Night of the Caribbean<br />
managed to sail past <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach, a�er<br />
OYSTER REGATTA PALMA<br />
a titanic duel. However, Alan Parker and his<br />
crew were delighted to be the first Class 2<br />
yacht to cross the line.<br />
Despite being one of the last yachts to start<br />
the pursuit race, Mike Freeman’s <strong>Oyster</strong> 575,<br />
Can Do Too was the first yacht to finish, showing<br />
impressive speed under spinnaker, to cap off the<br />
regatta with yet another win. �omas Meseck’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575, Satika finished the regatta in style<br />
with their best result of the competition, taking<br />
second place in the Pursuit Race. Satika is one of<br />
34 <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> already entered for the <strong>Oyster</strong> World<br />
Rally starting in January 2013. Richard Smith’s<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 655, Sotto Vento is also entered for the<br />
World Rally and took third place in the last race of<br />
the regatta.<br />
On the final night of the regatta, the prize-giving<br />
party and dinner was held amongst hundreds of<br />
acres of olive groves, at the Cases de sa Font Seca,<br />
“Sailing on board the beautiful Light Lana<br />
was for us an impressive highlight. We had<br />
a lot of fun during the racing and enjoyed<br />
our participation in the whole event at<br />
Palma very much.”<br />
Hansjochen Bludau, Oliver Glück and Heinz Löhr<br />
Bayerischer Yacht Club, Germany<br />
a remarkable 17th Century estate on the edge<br />
of the city of Palma, a distinguished setting<br />
fit for the closing party. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> family<br />
gathered in the candle-lit terraced gardens,<br />
swapping tales of the past, present and future,<br />
before retiring to the impressive dining room.<br />
David Tydeman o�ciated at the prize-giving and<br />
there was a tremendous round of applause as he<br />
thanked the guests of honour, Antonio Piza and<br />
Jaimie Binimelis, Commodore of the Real Club<br />
Nautico for hosting the regatta and <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Marketing Director, Liz Whitman for organising<br />
such a successful event.<br />
A�er the prize-giving ceremony, 250 guests<br />
enjoyed a sumptuous formal dinner and there<br />
were smiles all round. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> family had<br />
enjoyed excellent sailing conditions and<br />
a fabulous extravaganza of parties at some<br />
of Mallorca’s finest locations.<br />
WINTER 2011 19
20<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
O Y S T E R P A L M A<br />
CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE<br />
CLASS 1<br />
Presented by Real Club Nautico<br />
Sotto Vento 655 Richard Smith<br />
AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
CLASS 2<br />
Presented by Real Club Nautico<br />
Light Lana 54 Rory Gillard (Skipper)<br />
Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 John Marshall<br />
RACE 1 – SPONSORED BY RAYMARINE<br />
CLASS 1<br />
1st Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
2nd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill Munro<br />
3rd AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
4th Sotto Vento 655 Richard Smith<br />
CLASS 2<br />
1st Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 John Marshall<br />
2nd <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach 54 Alan Parker<br />
3rd Legend III 54 Alan Du Toit<br />
4th Sarabande 54 Gerd & Anne-Marie Köhlmoos<br />
RACE 2 – SPONSORED BY DOLPHIN SAILS<br />
CLASS 1<br />
1st Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
2nd AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
3rd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill Munro<br />
4th Starry Night<br />
of the Caribbean<br />
82 Starry <strong>Yachts</strong><br />
CLASS 2<br />
1st <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach 54 Alan Parker<br />
2nd Sarabande 54 Gerd & Anne-Marie Köhlmoos<br />
3rd Cat B 56 Wolfram Birkel<br />
4th Legend III 54 Alan Du Toit<br />
RACE 3 – SPONSORED BY LEWMAR<br />
CLASS 1<br />
1st Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
2nd Solway Mist II 655 Dario Galvão<br />
3rd AlbertOne3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
4th Sotto Vento 655 Richard Smith<br />
CLASS 2<br />
1st Sarabande 54 Gerd & Anne-Marie Köhlmoos<br />
2nd Spirit of Spring 56 Stuart & Carolyn Popham<br />
3rd Magic Spirit 56 Rudolph Kagi<br />
4th Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 John Marshall<br />
RACE 4 – SPONSORED BY PELAGOS YACHTS<br />
CLASS 1<br />
1st AlbertOne3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
2nd Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
3rd Juno of London 54 Paul & Caroline Frew<br />
4th Solway Mist II 655 Dario Galvão<br />
CLASS 2<br />
1st Legend III 54 Alan Du Toit<br />
2nd <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach 54 Alan Parker<br />
3rd Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 John Marshall<br />
4th Olanta 56 Wouter & Monique ten Wolde<br />
RACE 5 – THE PANTAENIUS PURSUIT RACE<br />
1st Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
2nd Satika 575 � omas & Esther Meseck<br />
3rd Sotto Vento 54 Richard Smith<br />
4th AlbertOne3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
5th Starry Night<br />
of the Caribbean<br />
82 Starry <strong>Yachts</strong><br />
6th <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach 54 Alan Parker<br />
7th Sarabande 54 Gerd & Anne-Marie Köhlmoos<br />
8th Juno of London 54 Paul & Caroline Frew
THE ROYAL THAMES YACHT CLUB TROPHY<br />
Best result over both classes, over all races<br />
(excluding the Pursuit Race) no discards.<br />
Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
THE LASER PERFORMANCE AWARD<br />
Donated by Laser Performance, the winner was presented with<br />
a new Laser ‘Bug’ dinghy, and was invited to donate it to a sailing<br />
club/school of their choice. For best yacht overall over 5 races not<br />
to have won a class trophy or overall prize.<br />
AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
R C N P P A L M A 2 0 1 1<br />
THE OYSTER CLASS REGATTA TROPHY<br />
CLASS 1<br />
1st Can Do Too 575 Mike Freeman<br />
2nd AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli<br />
3rd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill Munro<br />
4th Solway Mist II 655 Dario Galvão<br />
CLASS 2<br />
1st <strong>Oyster</strong> Reach 54 Alan Parker<br />
2nd Sarabande 54 Gerd & Anne-Marie Köhlmoos<br />
3rd Legend III 54 Alan Du Toit<br />
4th Rock <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 John Marshall<br />
WINTER 2011 21
22<br />
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS MEASURE SUCCESS,<br />
BUT IF YOU INSIST, OYSTER YACHTS<br />
RANGE BETWEEN 46 AND 125 FEET.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER AT THE BOAT SHOWS<br />
You could say that success follows us. Not surprising when you consider <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
has pioneered the building of world class cruising yachts for nearly 40 years.<br />
Choosing an <strong>Oyster</strong> is where your adventure begins, so we invite you to test the<br />
water at the London, Düsseldorf and Miami Boat Shows and to view some of the<br />
newest <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> afloat.<br />
All visitors are welcome, but because our yachts are privately owned and kindly<br />
loaned to us for the shows and, because we want you to enjoy your visit, we can<br />
only accommodate so many people on board at any one time. As usual, we will<br />
operate an appointment system, particularly at busy periods. We recommend<br />
that you make an appointment in advance of your visit to the show, which will<br />
ensure you can board at a time to suit you.<br />
Please visit the Events section of our website where you can find more details about<br />
each show and where you will be able to make an appointment to view our yachts<br />
by completing the on-line Boarding Pass Request form. Alternatively please call our<br />
sales team.<br />
UK/EUROPEAN SHOWS:<br />
Call: +44 (0)1473 695 005<br />
US SHOWS:<br />
Call: +1 401 846 7400<br />
Email: yachts@oystermarine.com<br />
www.oystermarine.com<br />
London Boat Show<br />
6 – 15 January (Stand no. H161)<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575 – Boat Hall<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 46 and <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 – on the water<br />
Boot Düsseldorf<br />
21 – 29 January (Hall 16, Stand no. C58)<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54 and <strong>Oyster</strong> 625<br />
Miami International Boat Show<br />
16 – 20 February<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625
THE OYSTER FLEET<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 46 Deck Saloon <strong>Oyster</strong> 54 Deck Saloon <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 Deck Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625 Deck Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 82 Deck Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Deck Saloon <strong>Oyster</strong> 725 Deck Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Deck Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Raised Saloon<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 885 Deck Saloon <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 by Dubois<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 125 by Dubois<br />
WINTER 2011 23
24<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
The<br />
wonderful<br />
world below<br />
the waves<br />
B Y V I R G I N I A D I M S E Y,<br />
OYSTER 62, SAILDANCE II
As you sail through the tropics enjoying the<br />
beauty of the world around you, it is not so<br />
apparent that there is also a world of incredible<br />
beauty below the waves. Coral reefs, with an<br />
astonishing array of species and sea creatures,<br />
off er a breathtaking experience that can add<br />
a whole new dimension to your voyage.<br />
WINTER 2011 25
26<br />
A yacht provides a<br />
unique opportunity to<br />
visit places where the<br />
underwater world is<br />
least impacted by human<br />
activity and nature is at<br />
its natural best. Without<br />
too much di� culty you<br />
can learn the skills and<br />
carry the equipment that<br />
makes snorkeling and<br />
diving a part of your<br />
way of exploring the<br />
world. In this article<br />
I hope to describe how our exploration<br />
of the undersea world unfolded. All the<br />
photographs that appear in this article<br />
were taken by me while snorkeling<br />
or diving with only a point-and-shoot<br />
camera. I hope the photos will show<br />
the incredible colour and beauty of<br />
what you can see and learn under the<br />
sea. Of all the wonderful adventures<br />
we have experienced during our global<br />
circumnavigation, none has been as<br />
unexpectedly thrilling and joyful as our<br />
exploration of the ocean.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
In October 2005, a� er my husband, Peter,<br />
retired, we started our circumnavigation in our<br />
new <strong>Oyster</strong> 62, Saildance II. Before leaving<br />
England, our focus was mainly on supplies for<br />
the boat, safety equipment, planning enough<br />
food and putting together the medical kit.<br />
A year later when we were in Newport, Rhode<br />
Island, we sensed that our trip around the<br />
world would provide some fantastic diving<br />
opportunities that we should prepare to take<br />
advantage of. So we bought our own dive<br />
gear (BCD, regulator, wetsuit, fi ns and mask<br />
and importantly a dive computer/watch).<br />
Having good equipment,<br />
which fi ts properly and<br />
you are familiar with,<br />
is very valuable. We also<br />
had a compressor and<br />
four tanks installed in the<br />
lazarette of our boat.<br />
Having this gives you the<br />
fl exibility to go on your<br />
own when and where you<br />
like. We were novice<br />
divers. Whilst I had<br />
my Open Water Diver<br />
certifi cate I had only dove<br />
20 times, whilst Peter had done his training in<br />
a pool and received his certifi cate on a sailing<br />
holiday and had even less experience.<br />
I began taking photos with a mid-range<br />
point-and-shoot camera with waterproof<br />
housing, which worked well and was easy<br />
to carry underwater. � is was not easy as the fi sh<br />
you are photographing are moving, the water<br />
is moving and you are moving! It was amazing<br />
that anything was in focus. We started to buy<br />
several reference books and found that those<br />
with actual photographs, not drawings, helped<br />
to identify the various types of fi sh more easily.
Building a knowledge of what you are seeing adds a great deal to the<br />
enjoyment. Slowly, we developed a ‘wish list’ of fi sh we hoped to see.<br />
Sharks and Manta Rays were at the top of the list, but then there were<br />
lots of other unusual and colourful fi sh such as the Clownfi sh, Lionfi sh,<br />
Napoleon Fish, Anemonefi sh, Ghost Pipefi sh, Mandarinfi sh as well<br />
as Octopus, Moray Eels, Barracudas, Turtles and Stingrays.<br />
Additionally, it is important to learn what not to touch, particularly<br />
those that are poisonous.<br />
It was in these reference books that we discovered that marine<br />
diversity increases exponentially as we moved westward.<br />
The Indo-Pacific region is universally acknowledged as the<br />
world’s richest area for marine diversity. � ere are more marine<br />
creatures there than in any other region of the world.<br />
� e Coral Triangle runs<br />
from the Philippines<br />
south-southwest to Bali<br />
in Indonesia, where<br />
it angles eastward<br />
extending past southern<br />
Papua New Guinea to<br />
the Solomon Islands,<br />
before going back<br />
northwest to the<br />
Philippines. To give<br />
you an example, in the<br />
Caribbean there are 50<br />
species of coral, but in<br />
the Coral Triangle there<br />
are 600-800! Likewise,<br />
there are over 2000<br />
species of fi sh in the<br />
Coral Triangle and only<br />
approximately 200<br />
in the Caribbean!<br />
We had so much to<br />
look forward to as<br />
we sailed westward.<br />
As we crossed the Pacifi c,<br />
our fi rst dive was in the<br />
Galapagos, which really<br />
was jumping in at the<br />
deep end! � e water<br />
there is quite cold with<br />
the Humboldt Current<br />
coming up from the<br />
Antarctic, about 65ºF<br />
(18ºC) so you need a thicker wet suit (5-7mm), which are available<br />
to hire there. With a thicker wet suit everything is diff erent, especially<br />
one’s buoyancy, so we were a bit nervous. But a� er seeing a school<br />
of hammerhead sharks we were all excited. Also, in the Galapagos<br />
we had such fun snorkeling with the sea lions, which swam playfully<br />
around us.<br />
Our next dives were in the Tuamotu Atolls in French Polynesia,<br />
where the islands have disappeared leaving just the fringing reefs.<br />
� e tides fl ow quickly in and out through the passes and many<br />
pelagic fi sh (big fi sh) congregate there to let the water fl ow<br />
through their gills without having to swim around. We went with dive<br />
schools because you really need to know where to go and the<br />
OWNER REPORT – SAILDANCE II<br />
currents can be strong. We descended as quickly as we could<br />
to the bottom and then held onto a rock to avoid dri� ing with the<br />
current. You look up and it is like shark wallpaper, literally hundreds<br />
of reef sharks, white tip, black tip, grey sharks, all lazily swimming<br />
about. At fi rst we were terrifi ed! But slowly, you got used to the fact<br />
that the sharks are not interested in you. A� er fi nishing the dives,<br />
everyone was comparing their shark photos. All the divers<br />
experienced a huge adrenal rush seeing so many sharks at once!<br />
We had our best dives on the Rangiroa and Fakarava Atolls. All the<br />
way through French Polynesia we had wonderful diving, mostly<br />
with dive schools. Diving with the French has its pluses – we really<br />
appreciated that the French dive schools never make you sign<br />
a waiver before diving, the dive master takes responsibility for his<br />
divers and usually takes<br />
no more than fi ve at<br />
a time. Outside of the<br />
French territories, you<br />
always have to sign<br />
a waiver before you dive.<br />
“Of all the wonderful adventures<br />
we have experienced during<br />
our global circumnavigation,<br />
none has been as unexpectedly<br />
thrilling and joyful as our<br />
exploration of the ocean.”<br />
A� er French Polynesia<br />
we stopped in Suvarov<br />
in the Cook Islands. It is<br />
a very remote, low atoll<br />
and also a national park.<br />
� e only way to visit<br />
Suvarov is by private<br />
yacht, so it is lovely and<br />
quiet. � e warden told<br />
us that Manta Rays were<br />
sometimes seen behind<br />
where our boat was<br />
anchored. I decided to<br />
swim out behind our boat<br />
to see if I could fi nd them.<br />
A� er 45 minutes, I turned<br />
to swim back when all of<br />
a sudden there it was –<br />
a Giant Manta Ray!<br />
I stayed motionless as it<br />
swam around me fearing<br />
he would swim away… but<br />
he didn’t. We continued to<br />
swim around together for<br />
what seemed a very long<br />
time. I noticed that he had<br />
a totally black underside.<br />
By now I was starting to get cold, but took some pictures to prove<br />
I had seem him! I swam back to the boat excitedly telling everyone<br />
what had happened. My fi rst Manta Ray! Shortly a� er, I looked up<br />
Le� Page<br />
Top Le� : Napoleon Fish<br />
Bottom Le� : Anemonefi sh – Nemo<br />
Bottom Right: Spotted Moray Eel<br />
Right Page<br />
Top: Colourful Coral<br />
Bottom: White Tip Shark<br />
WINTER 2011 27
28<br />
Manta Rays in our reference books and discovered that a totally<br />
black ray was very rare. What excitement! � ese rays have large<br />
triangular wings stretching up to 6.7m (22� ). � e next day, we went<br />
to look for more rays. It took quite a while and we were about<br />
to give up, but again, we found one near our boat. But this ray was<br />
a more common variety with white on his underside. � ey are such<br />
majestic creatures, gliding on their huge wings as they feed on<br />
plankton. � ey seemed totally unconcerned with us until they got<br />
a few feet from you, when they would turn away. On both occasions<br />
we le� them; they did not leave us. We subsequently had more<br />
opportunities to snorkel with Manta Rays in Fiji, Indonesia,<br />
and the Maldives. On every occasion it was an incredibly<br />
exciting experience.<br />
We were in Vava’u, Tonga just at the end of the birthing and mating<br />
season (July to October) of Humpback Whales. � e whales had<br />
migrated from Antarctica to the warmer tropical waters of Tonga,<br />
where they give birth to their calves. Tonga is unique in that<br />
swimming with whales is legal with a certifi ed company that<br />
is controlled by Whale Watching Regulations. It is possible to have<br />
the most amazing underwater views of mothers and their calves.<br />
We enthusiastically signed up with a local company. A� er a couple<br />
of hours searching we came upon a mother with her calf. Our boat<br />
approached them very slowly, away from the side that the calf was<br />
on. When we got within 100 metres, we slipped into the water<br />
without making any splashes and stuck close together, so that the<br />
whale didn’t see multiple objects approaching it. One whale came<br />
towards us, close enough for us to touch it! � e fi rst day I was<br />
overwhelmed by the entire experience of being so close to<br />
23 tons, that I didn’t take any photos! Where do you point the<br />
camera? So I signed up for a second day of excitement.<br />
Unfortunately, when we were in Australia, we missed diving the Great<br />
Barrier Reef because a lightning strike to Saildance II delayed us for six<br />
months. One day, as we were preparing to snorkel, an Australian rushed<br />
Le� Page<br />
Top le� : Manta Ray<br />
Top right: Peacock Mantis Shrimp<br />
Right Page<br />
Top right: Humpback Whale & Calf<br />
Bottom le� : Mandarinfi sh<br />
Bottom right: Nudibranch<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
over from his sailboat to tell us not to go into the water because the<br />
invisible, very small (matchstick-sized), extremely venomous Irukandji<br />
Jellyfi sh were around. We heeded his warning! Also, because the Great<br />
Barrier Reef is quite a long way off shore, people generally use ‘live<br />
aboard’ boats and make three to fi ve dives a day. For us, two dives<br />
a day is plenty. However, further north along the coast, we did sail<br />
to Lizard Island and visited the Research Station. We were lucky to<br />
be there to hear the once-a-week talk by the director who made an<br />
excellent presentation about the work of the station. He told us where<br />
to snorkel, which was right off the boat to see the most enormous<br />
Giant Clams, 1.5m (5� ) in diameter.<br />
While in Australia, as a special treat, my husband arranged a plane<br />
trip to Ningaloo Reef on the remote western coast of Australia.<br />
Annually, between April and June, an estimated 300-500 Whale<br />
Sharks congregate there at the time of the mass coral spawning.<br />
We snorkeled two days and saw many Whale Sharks (5-10m, 15-35� ).<br />
People fl y here specially to swim with these beautiful, docile creatures.<br />
� ere are several boats looking for the Whale Sharks, assisted by<br />
a plane, which spots where they are and passes the information on<br />
to the boats. � e boats take turns with their snorkelers swimming with<br />
the Whale Sharks. As they swim slowly on the surface you can keep<br />
up with them, even swimming with only one hand, as your other hand<br />
is holding a camera. Nothing can compare to the thrill of swimming<br />
beside a Whale Shark! If you manage to take a good photo of the<br />
le� side behind the gills and email it to ECOCEAN, they will enter<br />
it into their photo-identifi cation library. If your shark is re-sighted,<br />
an automated email is sent to let you know. I have been receiving<br />
emails about two Whale Sharks now for three years. � ese photographs<br />
are helping in the research of tracking the migration of the Whale<br />
Sharks. Currently ECOCEAN is tracking more than 1,200 of them.<br />
One of the fi rst islands we visited in Indonesia was Banda, one of the<br />
Spice Islands. Again, by word of mouth, we heard one could see the<br />
beautiful Mandarinfi sh by snorkeling in town below the main hotel.<br />
So three ladies ventured off at dusk when these tiny fi sh, (6cm, 2in<br />
long) come out of hiding to mate. With some patience we eventually<br />
saw them, swimming around in pairs among the black sea urchins.<br />
We also saw several Ringed Pipefi sh, with their red tails, and some<br />
lovely Starfi sh. Several days later we set off to dive. In the rush of the<br />
morning I had neglected to put the yellow O-ring into the camera’s<br />
underwater housing. It didn’t take long to realise that the camera was<br />
ruined. � is was a disaster! � e camera was unfi xable, we were in the
eastern part of Indonesia<br />
with nowhere to buy<br />
a new camera and here<br />
I was in the area of the<br />
highest marine diversity.<br />
I was devastated. Luckily,<br />
a friend lent me a camera,<br />
but it was a huge<br />
disappointment for me.<br />
Further along in Indonesia,<br />
at the southeast end<br />
of Sulawesi Island, is the<br />
Wakatobi Marine National<br />
Park, where the Hoga Island<br />
Marine Research Centre is based. It is right<br />
in the centre of the Coral Triangle. Every year<br />
between March and September hundreds<br />
of researchers and students visit the island<br />
on expedition with the UK based organisation,<br />
Operation Wallacea. Before helping with the<br />
various research projects, the students have<br />
to undertake a week-long Coral Reef Ecology<br />
course, which provides everyone with a basic<br />
introduction to coral reef biology and ecology.<br />
� e centre is currently run by a spunky English<br />
girl named Philippa Mansell. She gave a short<br />
lecture to the visiting yachtsmen about what<br />
OWNER REPORT – SAILDANCE II<br />
the research centre was doing. We asked her if<br />
we could join a group taking the Coral Reef<br />
Ecology course, which consisted of ten lectures,<br />
seven dives, three snorkels and three tests.<br />
No outsiders had participated before, but a� er<br />
some discussion she agreed. Each day we<br />
had lectures on key species of the coral reef,<br />
what lives where, how each of these amazing<br />
creatures feed, move, the fascinating biological<br />
relationships and interactions that are present<br />
on the reef. A� er each lecture, we would go<br />
diving to see in real life what we had been<br />
studying. At low tide we had quite a long<br />
distance to walk out to the boat<br />
carrying all our equipment,<br />
including the tanks. At lunch,<br />
one of the researchers<br />
commented that his group<br />
had counted 400 Stonefi sh<br />
(the world’s most venomous<br />
fi sh) in the area between the<br />
beach and where we got into<br />
the dive boat. Henceforth<br />
we walked very carefully<br />
and with shoes!<br />
Just east of Bali, opposite<br />
Lombok, are the small Gili<br />
Air Islands. � ey are a popular diving centre.<br />
� e diving here is not the best because the<br />
reefs have been extensively damaged by bomb<br />
fi shing and are just starting to recover. However,<br />
we found an excellent French dive master,<br />
who persuaded us to take the PADI Advanced<br />
Open Water Diver course. It included our fi rst<br />
night dive, which was quite an adventure,<br />
plus a dive down to 30m (100� ). We found<br />
it was important to keep working at improving<br />
our diving skills. Like all sports, refi ning your<br />
technique increases your enjoyment, confi dence<br />
level and safety.<br />
WINTER 2011 29
30<br />
A� er Indonesia, we went to Singapore, where<br />
Saildance II was struck by lightning a second<br />
time, so we couldn’t continue with the yachts<br />
heading toward the Red Sea. It took six months<br />
to repair everything and by that time the<br />
southwest monsoon was blowing. We decided<br />
to sail up the northwest coast of Borneo to<br />
Sarawak and Sabah, both part of Malaysia.<br />
On the way, we stopped at a remote Atoll,<br />
Layang Layang, 190 miles (300 km) off the<br />
Borneo coast. � e draw card for divers here<br />
is to see schools of Scalloped Hammerhead<br />
Sharks. It was August and it turned out to be too<br />
late in the season and unfortunately we didn’t<br />
see any of them. However, we met a group<br />
of people who were experienced divers, some<br />
had done over 2,000 life time dives, who had<br />
volunteered to help rid Layang Layang’s reef<br />
of the infamous Crown of � orns. � is starfi sh<br />
grows to over a foot across and has 10-20 arms.<br />
Its appetite for live hard corals has threatened<br />
reefs from the Indian to the Pacifi c Oceans.<br />
Once the reef dies, the reef fi sh leave. � e<br />
volunteers inject sodium bisulphate into the<br />
starfi sh, which is deadly to them, but does not<br />
harm the reef. � ey are gathered up and burned<br />
on shore. We asked if we could participate,<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
but they didn’t want the liability of accidents from<br />
the venom of the Crown of � orns or the handling<br />
of injection needles. A pity, it would have been<br />
very interesting to do!<br />
Sabah, at the top of Borneo, is rapidly<br />
developing its tourism, particularly rain forest<br />
jungle trekking and diving. A� er we had made<br />
several hiking trips into the jungle, we moved<br />
onward with great anticipation to what<br />
is reported to be fantastic diving. First we<br />
dove on Lankayan Island. We saw many new<br />
creatures, lots of Green and Hawksbill Turtles,<br />
Jaw Fish, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Blue Spotted<br />
Rays, Sweetlips and Nudibranchs. � en we<br />
moved down to Sipidan Island, considered one<br />
of the fi ve top diving destinations in the world.<br />
In order to preserve Sipidan, the Malaysian<br />
government has made a number of restrictions,<br />
including no night diving and only 120 diving<br />
permits a day. We arranged for a private dive<br />
boat to take us and saw an enormous school<br />
of Barracuda in a spectacular tornado-like swirl.<br />
� ey do this to drive their prey into the centre<br />
to make it easier to catch them. Next came<br />
large schools of Big Eye Trevally, while another<br />
highlight was large schools of Bumphead<br />
Parrotfi sh that are hilarious to watch. � ey are<br />
“We have had a truly wonderful<br />
time exploring the world both<br />
on land and below the waves.<br />
Our <strong>Oyster</strong> has provided us<br />
with this opportunity and we have<br />
seen a world that the average<br />
tourist doesn’t even know exists.<br />
� e whole underwater experience<br />
has been a revelation.”<br />
1m (3� ) long with big, dirty teeth that<br />
desperately need dentist cleaning. � ey use<br />
their large forehead to break the coral and<br />
then eat it. It was a spectacular morning.<br />
While in Singapore, I managed to replace<br />
the camera I had fl ooded for a newer model.<br />
I also bought a much better Japanese<br />
waterproof housing and took the big step<br />
of buying a strobe light. But the important<br />
lesson learned is it is best to organise all your<br />
camera equipment quietly the night before<br />
diving. A mistake is too costly, not just<br />
monetarily, but there is nowhere to buy new<br />
equipment at a dive site on a remote island.<br />
My next problem was that I had no idea how<br />
to use the strobe, so it sat quietly in its box.<br />
Luckily, while diving in Sipidan, I met another<br />
diver with the same equipment. He spent<br />
several hours with me and helped speed<br />
up the learning curve. A strobe may be more<br />
cumbersome, but what a diff erence a strobe<br />
light makes. Without a strobe, everything<br />
underwater below two metres looks bluish<br />
and muted. Up to this point of time<br />
my photographs were in a ‘blue period’.<br />
Now, with a strobe the entire photography<br />
experience changed. � e colours were
incredibly bright and more in focus. An<br />
inconsequential brown blob at 70 feet turned<br />
out to be a fabulous bright red Frogfi sh! Now<br />
our suggestion would be to carry an underwater<br />
fl ashlight, day and night, to see the true colours,<br />
even if you don’t have a camera.<br />
Near Sipidan are the islands Mabul and Kapalai,<br />
which are famous worldwide for macro<br />
photography and ‘muck diving’, getting its name<br />
from the sediment on the sea fl o o r, the dead<br />
coral. What makes muck diving so diff erent and<br />
interesting is that it is the perfect habitat for<br />
unusual, exotic and juvenile organisms that make<br />
their homes in the sediment. One can look at<br />
numerous, very small sea creatures sitting on the<br />
seabed, some only as big as your little fi nger<br />
nail. e Orangutan Crab with its long fl owing<br />
red hairs, the beautiful neon pink Hairy Squat<br />
Lobster and various tiny Translucent Shrimps.<br />
Once the dive master knows you are interested,<br />
he will point out these little creatures, even<br />
things so small you can barely see them, such<br />
as the rare Pygmy Seahorses. I grew very<br />
interested in these tiny sea creatures, particularly<br />
Nudibranches that come in an incredible variety<br />
of colours and shapes. But there were also huge<br />
numbers of various species of Scorpionfi sh,<br />
Buy your own gear – mask/snorkel and fi ns,<br />
and if diving a wet suit (3mm), BCD (vest),<br />
octopus and regulator and a dive computer/<br />
watch so you have equipment that is<br />
comfortable, fi ts and is reliable. Dive schools<br />
have equipment, but it is not always the<br />
quality you want or is comfortable. Also we<br />
found a thin stainless steel 30cm (12 inch)<br />
probe very useful to make touching the<br />
bottom safer.<br />
Take the time to get the basic Open Water<br />
Diver certifi cation or a refresher course<br />
before you leave on your voyage.<br />
My current photographic equipment is:<br />
Canon’s top of the range point-and-shoot G11,<br />
Fisheye Underwater Housing, Sea and Sea<br />
YS-110a Strobe. e problem with point-andshoot<br />
cameras is the ‘shutter lag’ (the time<br />
between pressing the shutter button and<br />
when the image is taken). However, moving<br />
up to an SLR camera plus its underwater<br />
housing is exorbitantly expensive, and<br />
it is also heavy and bulky.<br />
OWNER REPORT – SAILD ANCE II<br />
Flatheads, and many colours of Frogfi sh. Finding<br />
one of these amazing creatures by oneself<br />
is such a thrill. Muck diving provides an amazing<br />
opportunity to do macro photography; the<br />
water is calm and these little sea creatures<br />
do not move around much, so you can get very<br />
close to them.<br />
We have had a truly wonderful time exploring<br />
the world both on land and below the waves.<br />
Our <strong>Oyster</strong> has provided us with this opportunity<br />
and we have seen a world that the average<br />
tourist doesn’t even know exists. e whole<br />
underwater experience has been a revelation.<br />
On every snorkel or dive one can see something<br />
new and diff erent, from the majestic Whale<br />
Shark to the miniscule Nudibranch, and that<br />
brings a smile. We have also come to a deeply<br />
felt understanding of the need to balance<br />
the demands of the civilized world with the<br />
protection of the natural life that surrounds<br />
us in the seas. We hope that the description<br />
of some of our experiences has whetted your<br />
appetite to explore the beautiful world under<br />
your boat. It is easy to get started.<br />
We wish you all good sailing and also wonderful<br />
snorkeling and diving – you will discover it will<br />
enhance every voyage.<br />
Photos: Virginia Dimsey<br />
Tips for successful diving, snorkeling, and underwater photography<br />
Just as having spare parts for your<br />
boat, it is a good idea to have a<br />
second camera for land photographs.<br />
Remember, to prevent accidents, set<br />
everything up the night before!<br />
We recommend a BAUER<br />
Compressor. We bought another,<br />
cheaper make and have had nothing<br />
but trouble. Most <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts have<br />
a large enough lazarette to install<br />
a compressor and tanks.<br />
Carry a dive torch both day and night<br />
to see the real colours of the reef.<br />
Le Page<br />
Top le : Translucent Shrimp<br />
Bottom le : Sweetlips<br />
Bottom right: Crown of orns<br />
Must have book:<br />
Reef Fish Identifi cation Tropical Pacifi c<br />
by New World Publications. A comprehensive<br />
fi eld guide – see: www.fi shid.com<br />
Other useful books:<br />
Indo-Pacifi c Coral Reef Field Guide<br />
by Allen & Steene. is is very comprehensive<br />
and includes reef plants and animals.<br />
Tropical Reef Research – Coral Reef Animals<br />
of the Indo-Pacifi c by Gosliner, Behrens,<br />
Williams. Covers all reef animals except fi sh.<br />
e Snorkeler’s Guide to the Coral Reef<br />
by Paddy Ryan, Sea Challengers Publications,<br />
an excellent introduction book.<br />
Right Page<br />
Top right: Green Turtle<br />
Bottom right: Frogfi sh<br />
WINTER 2011 31
32<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER 100 by Dubois<br />
THE FIRST OYSTER SUPERYACHT, SARAFIN, IS LAUNCHED
THE OYSTER 100<br />
WINTER 2011 33
34<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
The new <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyacht project has been a long haul, in fact four years in the<br />
making. �e first two years of this immense project were spent in creating the bespoke<br />
construction facility, building the team, fabricating the tooling and establishing the<br />
composite resources to infuse these large yachts.<br />
Now the waiting is over and the first of the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts is on the water and ready<br />
for handover.<br />
�e new <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 by Dubois brings a unique<br />
package to the 100 foot marketplace by offering<br />
all the considerable benefits of a top-of-the-range,<br />
custom built superyacht, whilst benefiting from<br />
a proven design, tried and tested engineering,<br />
systems and equipment, all optimised for cruising<br />
in true comfort.<br />
Sarafin’s performance-orientated hull shape from<br />
Dubois Naval Architects is powered by a sport rig,<br />
carbon spars and Spectra carbon sails. She also<br />
has optional in-boom furling, which transforms<br />
the raising, setting and lowering of the main to<br />
a single lever operation at the helm station.<br />
Motoring out to open water, first impressions<br />
were that Sarafin is staggeringly quiet. Her flexibly<br />
mounted, ‘floating’ interior is built to the highest<br />
standards of superyacht construction, no part of<br />
the accommodation is solidly fixed to the structure,<br />
minimising sound and vibration levels. At only<br />
1500rpm the engine was almost inaudible yet she<br />
was achieving 11 knots. At the more relaxed<br />
speed of 9 knots she has the fuel capacity to<br />
cross the Atlantic and also run one of her large<br />
generators 24/7.<br />
“THE FIRST BOAT IN THE OYSTER<br />
SUPERYACHT RANGE COMBINES THE<br />
EFFICIENCY OF SEMI-CUSTOM DESIGN<br />
WITH EXCELLENT SAILING CAPABILITY<br />
AND BIG YACHT STYLE.”<br />
BOAT INTERNATIONAL, DECEMBER 2011
THE OYSTER 100<br />
WINTER 2011 35
36<br />
OYSTER NEWS
THE OYSTER 100<br />
“SARAFIN IS NOT A LIGHTWEIGHT FLYER LIKE SO MANY OF THE<br />
NEW-STYLE 100S FROM YARDS SUCH AS CNB, SOUTHWIND OR<br />
COMET. HER PURPOSE AND PRICE ARE DIFFERENT, HER BUILD AND<br />
DETAILING CONSIDERABLY MORE SUBSTANTIAL. SHE IS MODERN,<br />
WITHOUT A DOUBT, BUT SEAMANSHIP REMAINS A PRIORITY AND<br />
THE EVIDENT TENDENCY AT THIS SIZE TOWARDS STYLE OVER<br />
FUNCTION HAS BEEN AVOIDED…<br />
…SHE’S DESIGNED TO GO ROUND THE WORLD,<br />
NOT JUST ROUND THE CORNER!”<br />
SUPERSAIL WORLD, DECEMBER 2011<br />
Sarafin’s first sail began in light winds but, despite this, she quickly proved a delight<br />
to sail, making 8 knots upwind in 8 knots true wind, whilst in the occasional gusts<br />
of 15-20 knots she quickly accelerated to over 12 knots. At 30 degrees close-hauled<br />
she easily managed 9.2 knots. Her clean lines designed by Dubois showed little<br />
wake or energy lost to wave making.<br />
Her deck layout, which is designed to put the<br />
true sailing enthusiast in full command, served<br />
to maximise the enjoyment and thrill of helming<br />
such a fast and responsive yacht. Sarafin<br />
is a yacht for ‘first class’ long-distance<br />
passage-making, with 300 miles a day possible<br />
on fast reaches.<br />
As a medium displacement yacht, the <strong>Oyster</strong> 100<br />
by Dubois offers a class-leading amount of usable<br />
living space. Stepping on board Sarafin for the first<br />
time you are immediately struck by the spacious<br />
deck areas and overwhelmed by the incredible<br />
amount of interior volume. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 offers<br />
significantly more accommodation space than<br />
other semi-production 100’ yachts with an internal<br />
volume more normally associated with 110’ to 115’<br />
custom built yachts, yet each owner enjoys a large<br />
degree of flexibility when designing their preferred<br />
interior. A wide choice of interior timbers, cabin<br />
soles, deckhead and bulkhead finishes are<br />
available, together with an almost limitless<br />
range of furnishings, fixtures and fittings.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 100-02 is progressing well alongside<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 125-01 in this new semi-production<br />
facility and both these yachts will be sailing<br />
in 2012.<br />
�e <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 by Dubois is built to Lloyds ☩100<br />
A1 SSC Yacht Mono G6 MCHand MCA LY2<br />
Code. Certified to the highest levels for global<br />
commercial operation, the <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts<br />
are now a sailing reality and we’re very proud<br />
of what we’ve achieved!<br />
For more information about the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Superyachts please contact Murray Aitken:<br />
murray.aitken@oystermarine.com<br />
Photos: Selim Kemahli<br />
OYSTER SUPERYACHT FACTS<br />
� �e internal volume of the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
100 by Dubois is 410m3 – some<br />
80% larger than an <strong>Oyster</strong> 82.<br />
� �e internal volume of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 125<br />
by Dubois is nearly 710m3 , making<br />
her approximately three times the<br />
size of an <strong>Oyster</strong> 82.<br />
� It<br />
has taken around four times as<br />
many hours to build the <strong>Oyster</strong> 100<br />
as an <strong>Oyster</strong> 82!<br />
� �e infusion of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 125<br />
by Dubois hull created a world<br />
record of 6.2 tonnes of resin<br />
in one four-hour infusion.<br />
WINTER 2011 37
38<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER SUPERYACHTS, BIG BOATS<br />
AND CUSTOM YACHTS<br />
With the announcement of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 and some recently signed contracts,<br />
we now have the first <strong>Oyster</strong> 725 and <strong>Oyster</strong> 885 in build at the <strong>Oyster</strong> yard in Southampton.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 885-02 arrives in January 2012, followed three months later by 885-03, and then<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825-01 – so the activity in Southampton will be quite a sight by mid summer!<br />
Each of these new <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts has benefited<br />
from our experience in developing the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Superyachts and we are delighted to see the<br />
reports in the press of the first <strong>Oyster</strong> 100 by<br />
Dubois, Sarafin. �is first of the three yachts we<br />
currently have in build with our partners RMK<br />
Marine in Turkey is certainly making her mark.<br />
Acknowledging the positive gains we’ve had<br />
from commissioning the technically complex<br />
Sarafin at the same location as we complete<br />
the fit-out, we are developing plans to fully<br />
rig, commission and handover all the new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825s and 885s at <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Southampton<br />
base and by mid 2012 the <strong>Oyster</strong> ‘Big-Boat’<br />
centre at Saxon Wharf will be fully operational.<br />
Recognising and developing the huge strengths<br />
in our SYS Custom and Refit teams alongside<br />
this new <strong>Oyster</strong> ‘Big-Boat’ focus will enable us<br />
to accommodate more customisation on the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825 and 885. We’ve also been learning<br />
from building the <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts, helped<br />
by our Southampton team. As part of this we’re<br />
pleased that Matthew Morgan rejoins <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
from the RMK Project Team, having previously<br />
worked for <strong>Oyster</strong> as a Project Manager<br />
between 2004 and 2008. Matthew will be part<br />
of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 'Big-Boat' team in Southampton.
OYSTER DESIGN REVIEW<br />
CREATIVE THINKING AND DESIGN<br />
INNOVATION<br />
As part of our success over nearly four decades, <strong>Oyster</strong> has always been willing to listen<br />
to customers, to explore new ideas, to test new technology and to learn from others.<br />
�e ‘<strong>Oyster</strong> DNA’ has evolved through careful evaluation and decision making and<br />
knowing when to say yes and, sometimes, when to say no!<br />
We have built over 200 yachts in the current<br />
range of <strong>Oyster</strong> Deck Saloons from the <strong>Oyster</strong> 46<br />
to the <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 and within this fleet there have<br />
been many custom projects. Hull numbers 14 and<br />
17 of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 both have extended a� decks,<br />
counter sterns and folding transom doors.<br />
A wide variety of rig configurations have been<br />
supplied across the range, li�ing performance<br />
significantly on some yachts with fully battened<br />
mainsails on carbon rigs and V-profile ‘Park-<br />
Avenue’ booms. We have even built a special<br />
carbon pre-preg hull and deck for an <strong>Oyster</strong> 72,<br />
which turned out more than 15 tonnes lighter<br />
than the rest of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 72s. And as featured<br />
in the last issue of <strong>Oyster</strong> News, we’ve developed<br />
shoal dra� and SuperShoal, centreboard keels<br />
and proven the twin rudder concept with<br />
tank testing.<br />
Generally, most of these custom projects and<br />
technical developments have gone on in the<br />
background working with individual owners<br />
to build them very special, personalised yachts,<br />
but we now feel it’s time to sing the praises<br />
of our creative, design and technical teams<br />
more loudly!<br />
WINTER 2011 39
40<br />
Above top: <strong>Oyster</strong> 825<br />
custom transom<br />
Above middle and bottom:<br />
Featuring a unique patented<br />
pressure sensitive, power assist,<br />
operating system that makes<br />
opening and closing the door<br />
intuitive to the user.<br />
Above right: Cutaway design<br />
section of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
Across the <strong>Oyster</strong> range we have been<br />
developing and introducing new technology<br />
and ideas. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> Design Team, working<br />
with the Custom and Refit specialist team at<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s Southampton Yacht Services operation,<br />
considered broader concepts.<br />
�e new <strong>Oyster</strong> 885 uses forced air-handling<br />
systems to change the air six times an hour,<br />
doing away with the need for dorades and<br />
simplifying the deck layout.<br />
Composite chain plates, bonded in and<br />
part of the hull construction, have been<br />
laboratory tested and will be introduced<br />
on the <strong>Oyster</strong> 885.<br />
Foam cored bulkheads will be fitted as standard<br />
from the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 upwards, generating<br />
lightness, strength and noise/vibration damping.<br />
Carbon ‘I’ beams, supporting the saloon floors<br />
in the <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 and 885, facilitate highly<br />
effective sound deadening between the<br />
machinery and living spaces.<br />
�e design for the state-of-the-art ‘ranch style’<br />
glass doors, leading from the cockpit of the<br />
825 and 885 are the results of painstaking<br />
research and development, in collaboration<br />
with technical specialists.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s Deck Saloon yachts have long been<br />
admired for their light and airy interiors,<br />
and in what we believe is a first, the new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825 will feature curved glass<br />
opening deck saloon windows.<br />
�ese are just a small sample of the many<br />
innovative details embedded in the new<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> yachts, gained from our experience<br />
in building the new <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts;<br />
restoring 100-year-old Classic yachts and from<br />
building over 600 <strong>Oyster</strong> Deck Saloon yachts<br />
since the mid 1980’s. �e combined talents<br />
of our designers, project managers, shipwrights,<br />
engineers and cra�smen within the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Group just gets better and better, as does what<br />
we can offer the market – world leading yachts.<br />
THE COMBINED TALENTS OF OUR DESIGNERS, PROJECT MANAGERS, SHIPWRIGHTS,<br />
ENGINEERS AND CRAFTSMEN WITHIN THE OYSTER GROUP JUST GETS BETTER AND<br />
BETTER, AS DOES WHAT WE CAN OFFER THE MARKET – WORLD LEADING YACHTS.
THE NEW OYSTER 825<br />
INTRODUCING THE<br />
NEW OYSTER 825<br />
�e sleek and stylish new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 is an exciting addition to the range of new yachts<br />
<strong>launched</strong> by <strong>Oyster</strong> over the past two years and features <strong>Oyster</strong>’s new, striking and<br />
contemporary styling first seen with the highly successful <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 (of which 10 are<br />
now already sold).<br />
With clean and easily driven hull lines drawn<br />
by Rob Humphreys and detailed styling and<br />
engineering developed by the <strong>Oyster</strong> Design<br />
Team, the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 is sure to attract<br />
acclaim wherever she goes.<br />
With nearly 15% more internal volume than her<br />
predecessor – the very successful <strong>Oyster</strong> 82<br />
(of which 17 have been built since 2002) – the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Design Team has used this extra space<br />
to maximize the en-suite owner and guest<br />
accommodation in the three double cabins<br />
a�, whilst providing a clear separation of space<br />
for up to four professional crew to discreetly<br />
run the yacht and enable them to provide a<br />
‘six star’ service for the owner and his guests<br />
or charter guests.<br />
Developing the latest interior styling, now seen<br />
on the <strong>Oyster</strong> 625, 725 and 885 and building<br />
on the engineering knowledge gained from<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> Group’s successful development of<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts, the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825<br />
provides ‘Superyacht experience’ in levels<br />
of style and comfort for the owner who still<br />
enjoys sailing the yacht himself with family and<br />
friends yet wants the balance of supporting<br />
his sailing with professional crew.<br />
�e <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 is a powerful yacht that can eat<br />
up 250 miles per day on long passages without<br />
drawing breath. From every angle she is refined<br />
and elegant. Just as at home safely exploring the<br />
world’s oceans as cruising into Costa Smeralda,<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 is designed for the owner who<br />
seeks adventure and performance but with the<br />
peace of mind of safety and every comfort to<br />
hand. �e spacious, ergonomically planned<br />
cockpit comfortably separates guests from sail<br />
handling, whilst the huge areas of flush deck,<br />
both forward and a�, provide the perfect spot<br />
for sunbathing and entertaining.<br />
With options for a carbon rig and personalisation<br />
using the custom-build resources at <strong>Oyster</strong>’s<br />
Southampton shipyard, the first <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 will<br />
start production in late Spring 2012 for delivery<br />
in Summer 2013.<br />
WINTER 2011 41
42<br />
Length Overall (including bowsprit): 25.15m 82' 6"<br />
Length of Hull: 24.14m 79' 03"<br />
Length of Waterline: 21.97m 72' 01"<br />
Beam: 6.31m 20' 8"<br />
Draft (standard): 3.42m 11' 3"<br />
Standard rig and spar type: Semi-fractional sloop<br />
rig with fully battened main<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
NEW OYSTER 825<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Deck Saloon <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Raised Saloon<br />
OYSTER 825. DIMENSIONS (Provisional)<br />
DESIGNED BY ROB HUMPHREYS AND THE OYSTER DESIGN TEAM<br />
Displacement (standard): 56,000 kgs 123,459 lbs<br />
Typical Engine: Cummins QSB 5.9 305hp (227kW)<br />
Tanks – Fuel: 3,000 litres 660 Imp gals<br />
Tanks – Water: 2,000 litres 440 Imp gals<br />
Sail area with 150% foretriangle<br />
and 15% roach on main:<br />
371 m2 3,993 sq ft<br />
Air draft (Exc Antennae – approx.): 34.16m 112'1"
THE OYSTER 825<br />
RAISED SALOON<br />
THE NEW OYSTER 825<br />
Expanding on what we’ve learned with the <strong>Oyster</strong> Superyachts and the<br />
development of the <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Deck Saloon, we’ve taken what we can offer<br />
a stage further and can now offer an alternative deck and interior layout, which<br />
will initially be available as an option as the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Raised Saloon.<br />
�e key design characteristic is a fantastic, almost<br />
single-level living space, linking the cockpit to the<br />
interior saloon with its panoramic outboard vista.<br />
Just a couple of small steps down through the<br />
sliding glass door from the cockpit and the two<br />
areas are connected to provide around 38m 2<br />
of indoor/outdoor living and entertaining space.<br />
Lowering the cockpit level and raising the<br />
saloon allows several layout changes to be<br />
made from her sistership, the <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Deck<br />
Saloon. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> 825 Raised Saloon moves<br />
the crew accommodation a� and the owner’s<br />
cabin forward. It creates a spacious engine room<br />
under the saloon and facilitates a number<br />
of cabin configurations for up to four double<br />
en-suite cabins.<br />
A fixed or canvas Bimini offers the option for<br />
a child-friendly, partly enclosed cockpit – a safe<br />
and comfortable outdoor living environment for<br />
all the family – with easy access out onto the<br />
expansive, flush a� deck – perfect for<br />
sunbathing or evening cocktails.<br />
WINTER 2011 43
44<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
– A JOURNEY THAT BEAT THE ODDS –<br />
– BY JOCK WISHART –
Back in 2007, whilst in Resolute Bay<br />
preparing for one of his Polar races,<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> yachting enthusiast, Jock<br />
Wishart, was spotted working out<br />
on a rowing ergo in the snow during<br />
a rare moment of downtime. For such<br />
an accomplished veteran oarsman<br />
this shouldn’t have come as any great<br />
surprise, but for the fact it was<br />
-20 degrees centigrade and he<br />
was deep in the Canadian Arctic.<br />
On seeing Jock sweating it out, his<br />
good friend, and fellow Polar Race<br />
organiser, Chris Walker remarked:<br />
“Don’t tell me… what are you going<br />
to do next, row to the North Pole?”<br />
What if, Jock thought, what if that<br />
was actually possible? And so the<br />
seed had been sown…<br />
ROW TO THE POLE<br />
What then followed were four long, at times<br />
torturous years of planning to put together<br />
one of the most ambitious expeditions ever<br />
attempted, to row to a recognised polar<br />
position. For many the concept represented<br />
little more than complete madness – impossible<br />
to comprehend let alone attempt – but for Jock<br />
this was half the appeal. Never one to take the<br />
easy route this was without question to be his<br />
single biggest challenge to date.<br />
He had dedicated his life to adventure and<br />
exploration, along the way recording a number<br />
of remarkable achievements and world firsts.<br />
�e ‘North’ had played a big part in this and was<br />
a place very close to his heart. As the years had<br />
passed, Jock had become increasingly aware of<br />
the dramatic changes taking place to this part<br />
of the world, none more so than the rapidly<br />
diminishing ice coverage. Drawing inspiration<br />
from the impact these changes were having on<br />
the region, Jock was determined to prove that<br />
the ‘impossible’ might in fact be possible.<br />
�e goal was to row from Resolute Bay<br />
(Nunavut, Canada) to the 1996 Magnetic<br />
North Pole, a position he and fellow explorer,<br />
David Hempleman-Adams, had certified for<br />
the Canadian Government all those years<br />
ago, and which today remains one of the<br />
most recognised end points for expeditions<br />
in the north. With a blank piece of paper<br />
Jock then set about plotting what was to be<br />
a very complex expedition – from designing<br />
the ‘ice boat’ to sorting the fit out, transportation<br />
logistics, sponsorship and route planning the<br />
list was endless. For months on end he poured<br />
over the historical data, ice forecasts and every<br />
piece of Arctic research he could lay his hands<br />
on and as the picture began to unfold so did<br />
his dream begin to take shape.<br />
An expedition of this magnitude comes with<br />
a colossal financial burden and one of Jock’s<br />
greatest challenges was to find sponsors to help<br />
get the project off the ground. Without sponsors<br />
there would be no expedition and given the<br />
state of the world economy it was, at best,<br />
optimistic. To kick-start the campaign a headline<br />
sponsor needed to be found and in Old Pulteney<br />
Jock stumbled across a willing partner who<br />
shared his vision, energy and most importantly<br />
excitement for the project – and so it was that<br />
�e Old Pulteney Row To �e Pole was born.<br />
WINTER 2011 45
46<br />
Both crew size and number were dictated<br />
by the boat’s requirement to fit into a DH5<br />
Buffalo plane for transportation to Resolute<br />
Bay – such were the limitations of getting her<br />
to such a remote location. A�er consulting his<br />
boat designers, the plan was agreed to build<br />
a triple scull allowing for a six man crew. �ey<br />
were each hand-picked according to the skill<br />
sets required to put the campaign together,<br />
and over the course of the next few months he<br />
pieced together his dream team – Rob Sleep,<br />
Mark Delstanche, Billy Gammon and BBC<br />
cameraman Mark Beaumont. �e final seat<br />
was filled via a nationwide ‘search’ competition,<br />
in which Captain David Mans beat off stiff<br />
opposition from hundreds of applicants.<br />
A trained oceanographer, David would also<br />
conduct various tests during the expedition<br />
to provide scientific insight into the Arctic’s<br />
changing landscape and how the human body<br />
deals with these extreme temperatures.<br />
With the crew in place the focus turned to<br />
getting the iceboat, later to be christened<br />
The Old Pulteney, built. She was to be our<br />
lifeline during our time at sea and we needed<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
a vessel capable of navigating some potentially<br />
very hazardous waters – conditions and demands<br />
unlike those of any normal ocean row boat. Coping<br />
with volatile seas is one thing, but standing<br />
up to violent clashes with ice another entirely.<br />
�e agreed design, a�er months of consultations<br />
with boat builders and sled designers, was like<br />
so much of this expedition, totally unique. She<br />
was the first of her kind and a cross between<br />
a traditional ocean row boat and a sled – e�cient<br />
in the water but capable of being hauled over the<br />
ice if required. �e strict size specifications meant<br />
special ‘co�n’ berths were carved out in the hull<br />
so, when necessary, all six crew could sleep<br />
(in the loosest possible sense) on the boat at any<br />
one given time… not something for those<br />
suffering a claustrophobic disposition!<br />
Nine months out and the iceboat was ready,<br />
allowing sea trials and crew testing to begin.<br />
Most weekends, over a fittingly harsh winter,<br />
we met in Christchurch to train off the South<br />
coast and as each week passed so new<br />
modifications were added, drills perfected and<br />
training levels intensified. �is was supplemented<br />
by a strict gym regime, churning out hour upon<br />
hour on the ergo in preparation for the 3-hour<br />
shi� system to be used during the expedition.<br />
As the months ticked by so the expedition<br />
gathered pace and the jigsaw began to take<br />
shape. Finally, complete with a few more grey<br />
hairs and a little excess baggage (which we like<br />
to refer to as ‘expedition kilograms’), departure<br />
day arrived. So it was at midday on the 29th July<br />
that we pushed off from Resolute for the start<br />
of our 500 mile voyage into the unknown. It was<br />
a picture perfect morning in the Canadian Arctic<br />
and a�er a final spine tingling ‘call to arms’ speech<br />
from Jock we were off. �e anticipation was<br />
immense and, for Jock especially, emotions were<br />
running at an all-time high. �is had been his<br />
dream, his vision and, as his long suffering wife will<br />
testify, his life for the past four years, and despite<br />
all the setbacks, heartache and financial trauma<br />
this ‘mad cap’ idea was off and… rowing.<br />
Within three hours of leaving Resolute we had<br />
our first taste of what might be in store for us,<br />
as we found ourselves in the middle of a dense<br />
flow of pack ice. One minute we were pulling<br />
four knots on the oars the next we were in<br />
amongst an ice field, weaving our way through
“The Old Pulteney was to be<br />
our lifeline during our time at sea<br />
and we needed a vessel capable<br />
of navigating some potentially<br />
very hazardous waters,<br />
conditions and demands”<br />
mountainous blocks of ice, tracking any and<br />
every lead we could in desperate search of<br />
open water. It was an early reminder of the<br />
unforgiving nature of these waters and whilst we<br />
managed to navigate ourselves to safety this<br />
time around, next time we might not be so lucky.<br />
Much like the first day, the first night was also<br />
eventful. We anchored up in a position from<br />
where we had agreed to meet up with our<br />
camera and support boats for the daunting leap<br />
across the Wellington Channel. However, any<br />
rest we planned to get was interrupted abruptly<br />
as a flotilla of menacing ice floes converged on<br />
us, trapping our anchor and forcing us to take<br />
emergency action to free the iceboat. Needless<br />
to say with tails between legs we limped to<br />
safety a few miles down the coast, bruised but<br />
by no means beaten. �e fact that all of this<br />
happened so early on served as a valuable<br />
wake up call to the fickle nature of the Canadian<br />
Arctic. �is was not a place for the faint-hearted.<br />
�e early ice encounters were far from typical<br />
for the early part of the expedition and the hop<br />
across the channel from Cornwallis Island to<br />
Devon Island proved anything but the hazardous<br />
ROW TO THE POLE<br />
journey so many had predicted. Instead of the<br />
howling northerlies, angry seas and raging<br />
icebergs we were met with so� winds, ice free<br />
calm seas and weather to match that in the<br />
Mediterranean (even allowing for the occasional<br />
stint of topless rowing… hardly what you would<br />
expect in the Canadian Arctic).<br />
�e perpetual 24 hour daylight meant nights<br />
were something of an anathema, where sleep<br />
was dictated more by conditions than by the<br />
time of day. When the conditions were good we<br />
capitalised, ever wary of what might lie around<br />
the corner. However, day a�er day we were met<br />
with clear skies, mild temperatures and, relatively<br />
speaking, ice free seas. In short this was far from<br />
the Arctic scene we had all imagined, and all<br />
thoughts of balaclavas and base-layers were,<br />
for the time being at least, put to one side.<br />
We made amazing progress up Devon Island,<br />
hopping from bay to bay to rest, recover and study<br />
the daily email instalments of ice and weather<br />
forecasts. With each and every bay we visited so<br />
we were met with more and more stunning vistas.<br />
�e landscape was breathtaking – so bleak, yet so<br />
beautiful. Fauna was almost non-existent and but<br />
for the odd scattering of bones there was very<br />
little evidence of life, with terrain more befitting<br />
a lunar landscape than the high Arctic.<br />
As we journeyed up Devon Island so the<br />
fine conditions followed and, bar a couple<br />
of enforced weather stops, our progress<br />
remained untroubled. A�er only 12 days we<br />
found ourselves in position to make our next<br />
big leap, from Grinnell Peninsula to Table<br />
Island. �at we had made it so far so soon<br />
was extraordinary and perhaps early evidence<br />
of just how extensive the ice melt had been<br />
this year. So with our tails up we pushed on,<br />
pulling hard on the oars and stopping only<br />
to take in the breath-taking sights and sounds<br />
that were ever present during this expedition.<br />
However things were to change, and with brutal<br />
effect. Our luck to date had led to an air of<br />
complacency amongst the crew and where<br />
perhaps, with hindsight, we should have<br />
stopped we didn’t and before we knew it we<br />
quickly came face-to-face with a fortress of ice.<br />
O�en the light refracting off the ocean created<br />
misleading illusions of ice, but not this time. Just<br />
like day one conditions changed with ruthless<br />
speed – one minute we were racing along at<br />
(relative) breakneck speed and the next we were<br />
stopped dead in our tracks. Admiration for these<br />
great ice structures quickly turned to fear as the<br />
ice closed in around us with suffocating effect.<br />
As each hour passed so the situation worsened<br />
and the focus shi�ed from one of progress to<br />
one of getting to safety… wherever that may be.<br />
The Old Pulteney came under attack from all<br />
sides – one minute being squeezed and the<br />
next battered and beaten as the vast sheets of<br />
ice converged on her sides. With every clash<br />
of ice she let out another sickening scream of<br />
pain, sending shudders through the crew, each<br />
fearing for how long she could possibly keep up<br />
the valiant fight. As the options became fewer so<br />
tiredness set in and the euphoria of a few hours<br />
earlier was replaced with widespread concern.<br />
�ankfully as quickly as the situation worsened<br />
so it eased and a�er 20+ hours on the oars we<br />
managed to find safety back on land, having<br />
taken our medicine and back tracked some<br />
15 miles. For The Old Pulteney it had been<br />
her first true test but one which she had come<br />
through with flying colours. For the crew it was<br />
a time to lick our wounds, regroup and quickly<br />
get the expedition back on track.<br />
�is change in fortunes was accompanied<br />
with a change in conditions, as the weather<br />
became less predictable and the ice more<br />
widespread. �is led to a change in strategy<br />
as long, uninterrupted stints on the oars were<br />
WINTER 2011 47
48<br />
replaced by short, sharp intense sessions darting<br />
from bolthole to bolthole whenever conditions<br />
allowed. Up to now everything had seemed so<br />
certain, but for now at least the only certainty<br />
was the uncertainty of what lay ahead.<br />
�e further north we went the more frequent<br />
were the delays. Unlike most ocean rows this<br />
expedition was to be an exercise in strategy<br />
over endurance. Weather systems were known<br />
for their volatility, sweeping in with very little<br />
warning and with potentially devastating effect.<br />
Consequently a route of some 73 potential<br />
anchorage points had been mapped out so<br />
we could, as and when necessary, seek refuge<br />
quickly from the weather and/or ice.<br />
�e stop start nature of the expedition meant<br />
that whilst on the one hand it was a race against<br />
time it was also a long protracted game of<br />
patience – which itself presented challenges.<br />
Mindful of the task in hand it was crucial we<br />
used any delays to our advantage, both to keep<br />
our sanity and our sharpness. Getting su�cient<br />
rest was important, but so too was keeping our<br />
eye on the ball and preparing as best we could<br />
for what might lie ahead. So rather than sitting<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
idle, training drills were rehearsed, supplies<br />
counted, the boat cleaned and any necessary<br />
boat maintenance completed… not to mention<br />
cabins fumigated!<br />
�e rowing was, at times, exhausting and the<br />
days spent waiting frustrating, but rarely a day<br />
would go by when we weren’t reminded of just<br />
how lucky we were to be in this special part<br />
of the world. So many childhood dreams are<br />
rooted in the ‘north’ and here we were living<br />
them. Whilst a sighting of Santa Claus was<br />
probably unlikely, the abundance of magical<br />
wildlife more than made up for it – from seals,<br />
walruses, wolves, foxes, whales, reindeer and<br />
of course the much coveted polar bear. With<br />
every sighting ordinary days were instantly<br />
transformed into extraordinary experiences.<br />
An average day on board The Old Pulteney was<br />
a colourful experience. We rowed in two ‘shi�’<br />
systems for three hours at any one given time –<br />
with one man on the helm at all times. We would<br />
each consume four dehydrated meals per day and<br />
one day bag to graze on during and in between<br />
time on the oars (calorific, high energy ‘treats’), in<br />
total allowing for around 6,000 calories per man<br />
per day. It wasn’t gourmet, but unlike the bears,<br />
at least we didn’t have to hunt for our food.<br />
Water was provided either through the on-board<br />
desalinator machine or through stocks collected<br />
from fresh water streams en route.<br />
We would sleep in between shi�s, as and when<br />
our bodies (like computers) needed to shut down<br />
and reboot. When the conditions demanded it,<br />
all six would have to rest at the same time, with<br />
two in the forward and four in the a� cabins<br />
– a challenge far greater than you could ever<br />
imagine requiring a shoe horn to get us in and can<br />
opener to get us out! As for the ‘facilities’ they were<br />
basic but, like so much of the boat, functional – and<br />
for those brave enough (or gently encouraged<br />
by fellow crew mates) showers were taken in the<br />
occasional Arctic stream!<br />
As we ventured further north so ice encounters<br />
became more frequent and tactical stops to<br />
summit hills and plot the path ahead more<br />
necessary. MDA Geospatial provided a crucial<br />
service during the expedition, affectionately<br />
referred to as our ‘eye in the sky’. With their<br />
constant feed of satellite images highlighting<br />
the ice coverage, combined with our ‘live’
data captured from the ground, we were able<br />
to carefully plot our route forward. Progress<br />
was slow and methodical but a� er tip toeing<br />
our way towards the fi nish we eventually got<br />
ourselves to within striking distance. Up to this<br />
point the expedition had felt like a game of two<br />
halves, with the score tied at one apiece, but<br />
there was a distinct feeling in the camp that<br />
King Neptune had one fi nal trick up his sleeve.<br />
What then followed were 48 hours which, in<br />
many ways, were to defi ne the entire expedition.<br />
Having been holed up by the ice and strong<br />
winds for the previous four days, we were<br />
desperate to get moving. With only 50 miles to<br />
the fi nish we were so close but so very far – and<br />
with each day that passed so winter was getting<br />
ever closer and the window of opportunity<br />
closing. A key ingredient to our success was<br />
in recognising the opportunities when they<br />
presented themselves and acting decisively –<br />
and this fi nal stage was a case in point. Whilst<br />
the ice coverage was moderate, and thick in<br />
patches, our intelligence suggested there was<br />
a way through. Once the strong prevailing winds<br />
eased we got back on the oars and slowly edged<br />
our way through and around the ice, once again<br />
tracking leads in search of open water. As had<br />
so o� en been the case, Lady Luck was with us<br />
once again and, no sooner had we discussed the<br />
possibility of seeking refuge back on land, than<br />
the ice parted to reveal clear unbroken water for<br />
as far as the eye could see! Amazing.<br />
From a situation of despair, suddenly the end<br />
was within sight. Mountainous icebergs could<br />
be seen grounded close to shore, evidence<br />
of what might have been a few days, maybe<br />
weeks, earlier but the leads were generous<br />
and plentiful. Calls were duly made back to the<br />
UK to prepare for the fi nal push and thoughts<br />
turned to the celebrations that were surely just<br />
around the corner. However like so many times<br />
before King Neptune had other ideas…<br />
ROW TO THE POLE<br />
With barely 2.5 miles to go, the vast expanse of<br />
clear water began to shrink and the wide-open<br />
channels were replaced with tight meandering<br />
leads. � e water was ‘greasy’ and the air thick<br />
with an eerie silence. Something wasn’t right<br />
and whilst another summit to a hill suggested<br />
there might be a route through it wasn’t long<br />
before we came up against the biggest obstacle<br />
yet, an impenetrable blanket of ice. It stretched<br />
for as far as the eye could see, locked together<br />
as one huge expanse of ice. � e gauntlet had<br />
been laid down, now it was our turn to respond.<br />
� e fi nish line was agonisingly close, but to get<br />
there we would have to fi nd a way through, or<br />
over the ice. With little or no chance of rowing<br />
through the ice we were le� with no option other<br />
than to man haul the iceboat over the remaining<br />
2.3 miles. We had been through specialised<br />
training for this eventuality but ever hoping<br />
the need would never arise and, together with<br />
the iceboat’s unique ‘sled’ design we were well<br />
prepared to take on this fi nal challenge. A� er<br />
a scouting mission to plot a route over and<br />
through the icy terrain we set about dragging<br />
The Old Pulteney towards the fi nish.<br />
Dressed in dry suits we set off on the torturous<br />
mission to winch, push and drag the iceboat<br />
over the terrain and through the occasional lead<br />
as slowly but surely we inched our way ever<br />
closer to the fi nish line. On the back of 38 hours<br />
non-stop rowing the bodies were spent but,<br />
with the end in sight, we made one fi nal push.<br />
At 18.30 on 25th August 2011, a� er 10 hours of<br />
man hauling and with the GPS reading 78°35.7N<br />
104°11.9W we had made it. � e ‘attempt’ was<br />
now an ‘achievement’ and in so doing we had<br />
become the fi rst crew to take a row boat to the<br />
1996 Magnetic North Pole… and for 498 miles<br />
of this journey we had rowed her there!<br />
With no fi nish ‘line’, celebrating the end was<br />
a very diff erent and almost certainly more<br />
anti-climactic experience, although a� er 36 hours<br />
of bone shattering eff ort all we really wanted<br />
was a good feed and few hours rest! Where<br />
most expeditions wind down on reaching the<br />
fi nish, we still had our work cut out to fi nd<br />
the safety of land, and then onwards to the<br />
extraction point. A� er a few hours rest and the<br />
obligatory photos (and man hugs) we set about<br />
another long hard day of hauling, dragging and<br />
eventually rowing until we fi nally made it to land.<br />
Like so much of this expedition our timing had<br />
been fortuitous as the waters started to freeze<br />
shortly a� er our arrival on land. � e winter was<br />
closing in fast, and following a fi nal 75km hike to<br />
Isaachsen our Twin Otter plane arrived and we<br />
were airli� ed out on 31st August.<br />
Hairy, smelly and a good deal lighter, the time<br />
had come to leave the place we had called<br />
home for the past 33 days and close the book<br />
on what had been an epic Arctic story. � at we<br />
succeeded was in no small measure down to<br />
luck, as Jock would later comment:<br />
“It is only now I have come to realise just how<br />
lucky we were to have the right conditions this<br />
year to complete this attempt. I always felt it was<br />
hypothetically possible, but having made the<br />
voyage, it’s clear we were pushing on the limits<br />
of what was possible – even allowing for the<br />
huge changes attributed to climate change.”<br />
� ere is no question that whilst we can be<br />
immensely proud of our achievement it comes<br />
with a feeling of bitter sweet success, knowing<br />
it was only possible due to the dramatic changes<br />
taking place in this very special part of the world.<br />
Whilst we are not qualifi ed to pass judgement on<br />
this we hope our eff orts will, if nothing else, serve<br />
as further evidence to this fact.<br />
To fi nd out more about Jock’s journey please<br />
visit www.rowtothepole.com<br />
Photos:<br />
Billy Gammon, Mark Beaumont & Mark Delstanche<br />
WINTER 2011 49
50<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
Miss Tippy<br />
BY FAMILY NORTON, OYSTER 56 MISS TIPPY
����������������<br />
� e thing I really enjoyed was learning to dive and<br />
I recommend it as one of the most amazing things<br />
I did on our trip. It was like entering a fantasy world<br />
with all the vibrant under ocean coral, fi shes and even<br />
the occasional moray eel!<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������<br />
������������������������<br />
When we started our trip I was very scared of sharks,<br />
which sometimes made me afraid of going into the<br />
sea. A� er having swum with them and fed them I have<br />
warmed to them! � ey’re probably just as scared of us<br />
as we are of them. Did you know they only kill you from<br />
fear of territorial invasion or if they think you are seals or<br />
turtles? I’ve heard that if you put human and fi sh blood<br />
in the water they go for fi sh, and that the fi lm Jaws was<br />
only made to scare people! What I fi nd sad is that some<br />
OWNER REPORT – MISS TIPPY<br />
fi shermen kill the sharks, cut off their fi ns for soup and<br />
then throw the fi nless dead shark back into the water.<br />
What have the sharks done to them? I also learnt that<br />
if you aggravate the shark it will most likely eat you… just<br />
keep that in mind when you meet up with a shark!<br />
I was also scared of pirates and still am from our recent<br />
trauma, which was tremendously scary. Now I always<br />
think it could have been us that were pirated so am<br />
conscious that we were very lucky to have had<br />
a narrow escape.<br />
Whilst being away I learnt a lot and now I appreciate<br />
how lucky we are to have a beautiful house, showers,<br />
baths, electricity etc. A few weeks a� er we had moved<br />
back into our house we had a 24-hour power cut. We<br />
found it very hard to live without electricity having been<br />
using it non-stop for the few weeks we had been home<br />
and yet we have met many people who don’t even have<br />
a toilet let alone electricity!<br />
I now enjoy being home and back at school. It’s a lot<br />
diff erent and better than boat school as you’re with<br />
your friends and there are a few late night sleepovers<br />
including lots of sweets and movies.<br />
It’s basically just nice to have friends my own age<br />
to talk to who understand more, even though I had<br />
Charlie and Freddie it was not the same! But we did<br />
build a strong bond and it’s still strong. We have an<br />
occasional fi ght but it all works out in the end much<br />
easier than it used to.<br />
So the trip has been great in lots of diff erent ways and<br />
I would defi nitely recommend it. Good luck to those<br />
who are about to do it but make sure to be careful!<br />
WINTER 2011 51
52<br />
�����������������<br />
On the trip I realised that after having enjoyed years<br />
of luxury at home with my parents taking me, reluctantly,<br />
sailing, that it was just as much fun touring on a boat<br />
as playing with friends or shooting bottles in the back<br />
garden. � e fun was also mixed with dangers like pirates,<br />
cannibals, sharks, accidents and bad storms.<br />
Some of the most fun things I did involved water. � ere<br />
were activities like scuba diving, canoeing, dinghy sailing,<br />
windsurfi ng and wakeboarding. My sisters and I learnt<br />
����������������������������<br />
������������������������������<br />
����������������<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
to dive in Gili Air, a small island off the coast of Indonesia,<br />
here we had Halloween with our late friends Phyllis and<br />
Bob who were killed by pirates. We were also joined<br />
by other boats, with friends with whom we had built<br />
a bond with over a year or so of meeting in diff erent<br />
parts of the world.<br />
We had magnifi cent dives in places like Australia,<br />
Indonesia, � ailand and many more places including<br />
some of the best dive sites in the world.<br />
My Dad and I enjoyed fi shing and especially spear<br />
fi shing, we would ask locals where the best fi sh hot<br />
spots were and what tackle to use. � e amount of fi sh<br />
we caught and ate was phenomenal! We had one fi sh<br />
the same size as my 11-year old sister, which fi lled up our<br />
freezer with steaks. We didn’t eat too many lobster<br />
or crayfi sh as my sister is allergic to them, but we still<br />
had our fair share.<br />
� e abundance of fi sh was only disturbed on the trip<br />
down to Lanzarote where we only caught a Gare fi sh<br />
(which tasted good) and on the way from India to<br />
Oman when we had pirates hot on our tail!<br />
� e trip opened my eyes to a much bigger world than<br />
the one I already knew. It taught me amazing things such<br />
as the skills involved for carving bones, wood and stones<br />
and the many diff erent types of tools and weapons!<br />
We saw people jumping off 80 foot cliff s and even tried<br />
some smaller jumps ourselves! I learned to free-dive, drive<br />
a 4x4, fi sh, sharpen a machete with coral, chum water<br />
for sharks, get the best type of coconut, climb palm trees<br />
with only a machete (useful things machetes), what type<br />
of fi shing tackle to use on certain passages, how to hunt<br />
and kill giant robber crabs, how to cook and eat robber<br />
crab stomach with coconut shavings and many, many<br />
more things, so many that I probably can’t fi t them<br />
on a computer!<br />
So, I’ll draw the line and say that the trip was amazing,<br />
slightly scary, a bit crazed but overall brilliant!
�����������������<br />
� inking back to before the trip, my family – particularly<br />
Dad, had become enveloped in what I think of as the<br />
‘routine bubble’. We operated as every other family<br />
did: morning school runs, late work hours, short family<br />
weekends and sunny holidays. So when my parents<br />
presented this idea of a circumnavigation, ‘popping the<br />
bubble’ seemed an impossible and frightening concept;<br />
a new lifestyle, a deviation of the traditional routine.<br />
However, my father’s thirst for adventure was<br />
infectious. By the time we reached Spain, new<br />
ways of communication and teamwork had grown<br />
between us. I’d always interpreted the term ‘bonding’<br />
as a stereotypical description, but sailing, living and<br />
growing in such close quarters with my brother<br />
and sister defi nitely brought us together. � ey<br />
are my best friends, though they never tried<br />
to be. We fell into a natural friendship, especially<br />
in long passages and di� cult times.<br />
I also found a new relationship with my Mum.<br />
One night, when I called her one of my best friends,<br />
she objected saying, “I only want to be your best<br />
mother”. Only on our return home and to school<br />
did I understand what she had said, and she really<br />
is the best mother I could wish for.<br />
��������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������<br />
������������������������������<br />
���������������������<br />
OWNER REPORT – MISS TIPPY<br />
Last but not least: old Dad. With our early relationship<br />
shadowed by his growing business, getting to know<br />
him was a gi� . We spent countless starry nights listening<br />
to the genius of Bill Bryson (CD: A Short History of<br />
Everything, I defi nitely recommend it!) and contemplating<br />
the universe. Dad awakened a deeper part of my mind;<br />
we spent many hours debating theories of creation, the<br />
existence of stars, life and religion… name anything and<br />
I’m sure it has come up in conversation!<br />
In this part of my mind also dawned a broader love<br />
for culture as I was introduced to a gigantic variety<br />
of people. I found a large part of this interest<br />
in hearing Annie and Freddie’s feelings and opinions<br />
of all the things we saw – it was amazing to be able<br />
to experience things through their eyes.<br />
In all, the trip brought me a new interpretation<br />
of maturity: it’s not all about material belongings,<br />
drink, drugs, sex; but in the way you cope and<br />
co-operate in di� cult situations. I am looking<br />
forward to sharing this view with my school<br />
friends and with the readers of <strong>Oyster</strong> News.<br />
WINTER 2011 53
54<br />
�����������������<br />
During our trip I evolved from being a wife supporting<br />
my husband in his dream, to a fellow sailor discovering<br />
my own deep respect and love of the sea.<br />
Contrary to my fear of solo night watches, I found that<br />
I got immense enjoyment sailing through the endless<br />
darkness to the sound of the waves in our beautiful<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>, following the same stars as historical explorers.<br />
We set out as Mum and Dad with three children<br />
on board and have returned not just as a family but<br />
as a team. Brian had prepared us all so well for almost<br />
any eventuality, however, I really did wonder how we<br />
would look a� er the children if we had a crisis. Incredibly<br />
when we hit several crises the children actually looked<br />
a� er us! We watched our children grow, not only<br />
physically, but in maturity and confi dence beyond their<br />
years. As well as fun, sun and adventure, we laboured<br />
together through storms, illness, a life-threatening<br />
accident and close encounters with hostile pirates.<br />
We not only survived but became stronger with<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
�������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������<br />
�����������<br />
mutual respect and with an incredible bond.<br />
I am so proud of my extraordinary family.<br />
Back at home now, a� er this amazing experience<br />
and having shared responsibilities for so long on board<br />
Miss Tippy, the children are reunited with their friends,<br />
thriving at school, eagerly taking part in sports, and<br />
literally just happy being carefree kids again.<br />
� roughout our voyage Miss Tippy was always our<br />
‘rock’ and very much a part of our family, she carried<br />
us over 20,000 miles and in style and comfort and the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> team were so supportive, sending not only vital<br />
spares to all corners of the world and satellite messages<br />
with technical information but also many messages<br />
of encouragement which we all greatly appreciated,<br />
it felt like an extended family was looking out for us<br />
from afar and Liz Whitman’s suggestion that we write<br />
for the <strong>Oyster</strong> magazine has given us a lovely memory<br />
of the voyage.<br />
� e circumnavigation really was an awesome and<br />
life-changing adventure for us.<br />
It fulfi lled our dreams and we have come home a stronger<br />
family. I sometimes feel overwhelmed at the thought<br />
of what we have been through and then when I relax,<br />
the memories of the majestic sea are enough to calm<br />
me to sleep, and I dream of doing it all again.
�����<br />
We started our journey with fears of storms, collisions<br />
with reefs and other sailing calamities. I was also<br />
worried about how we would get on as a family in such<br />
a close environment and without formal education for<br />
the children. However, in hindsight these risks were not<br />
so great and when they did manifest themselves we<br />
rose to the occasion.<br />
We encountered several severe storms but found that<br />
Miss Tippy shrugged off the huge seas about us. We had<br />
our only collision at the start of the trip when we hit a buoy<br />
in the River Orwell only hours a� er we le� Fox’s Marina<br />
with our brand new boat! Fortunately we were destined<br />
not to repeat such a mistake for the next 20,000<br />
or so miles!<br />
Our most signifi cant sailing calamity was when a fi tting<br />
broke and the spinnaker pole fell on my head, splitting<br />
it open and rendering me unconscious. � is is where all<br />
the planning and practice came to the fore. Everyone<br />
sprang into action. Ship’s Doctor, Sheila wrapped my<br />
head together and hailed the coastguard. First Mate,<br />
Charlie (then 12) took charge at the helm, Navigator<br />
Freddie (11) found the nearest port and plotted our<br />
course. Galley Slave and Nurse, Annie (9) kept the<br />
patient hydrated and conscious to avoid a potential<br />
coma. For me the experience highlighted just how vital<br />
it is to work as a team on a yacht. I’m sure the outcome<br />
would have been much worse if we hadn’t had defi ned<br />
roles, which everyone automatically carried out when<br />
we were in crisis.<br />
� e family grew together in a much deeper and stronger<br />
way than I had envisaged. I really can’t remember any<br />
arguments at all. I guess we had a shared purpose and<br />
a big challenge to face up to that focused all our energies<br />
in the right direction. I have a new found respect for each<br />
of my crewmates. Sheila’s strength and wisdom was<br />
OWNER REPORT – MISS TIPPY<br />
amazing and my respect for my children grew hugely<br />
as I saw them grow in skill, confi dence, humility and<br />
appetite for life as we voyaged.<br />
� e trip itself was harder work than I thought it would<br />
be. We travelled to and explored 30 countries. Our<br />
life consisted of long voyages, followed by frantic<br />
maintenance and then busy jaunts inland to immerse<br />
ourselves among the communities and marvel at the<br />
sights of the countries we visited.<br />
We also explored the magnifi cent underwater world.<br />
While I knew we were going through some of the best<br />
dive locations in the world I wasn’t really prepared for<br />
the beauty and abundance of life that we discovered<br />
in the more remote locations. We were reluctant for<br />
our children to dive initially but over time found out<br />
that we could trust them to be careful and they all<br />
became qualifi ed scuba divers. Seeing my children’s<br />
wide-eyed awe reinforced my love for this alien world.<br />
I swam among dolphins with Annie, watched Freddie<br />
as he fearlessly dri� ed among sharks and laughed in<br />
my mask at Charlie doing underwater somersaults a� er<br />
discovering a pink anenome! � e list could go on and on…<br />
����������������������<br />
����������������������������<br />
��������������������������������<br />
��������������<br />
To fi t over 20,000 miles into a two year trip inevitably<br />
made it harder than a more leisurely four or fi ve year<br />
voyage. However, the pace had some unexpected<br />
advantages. � e rapid succession of encounters with<br />
diff erent people, and traditions brought their respective<br />
similarities and diff erences into sharp focus enabling<br />
us to savour them more deeply. Moreover, our two-year<br />
trip fi tted nicely into our life plan. We felt reasonably<br />
confi dent that a two-year gap in schooling would not<br />
cause irrevocable harm to our children!<br />
WINTER 2011 55
56<br />
� e trip gave me a deeper respect for our environment<br />
and I really enjoyed the freedom to anchor where<br />
we liked. We thrived on beautiful sunsets amid the<br />
majestic expanse of the sea. Our experiences at sea<br />
were mirrored by adventures on land… whether it was<br />
trekking through the jungle to the rim of a brooding<br />
volcano or watching bizarre animals such as the scary<br />
Komodo Dragons frolicking on the shore. Both freedom<br />
and the environment suff ered as we travelled towards<br />
developing parts of the world. However, we also saw<br />
growing awareness of the need for more care of the<br />
environment. I don’t think we’ve got the balance right<br />
yet but I have some optimism that we’re moving in the<br />
right direction.<br />
� e trip has aff ected my outlook on life in a fairly<br />
fundamental way. We met many who would be poor<br />
by western standards but who still have a tremendous<br />
quality of life. People like the Kuna Indians who live in<br />
communal huts without electricity or many of the things<br />
we consider essential but who enjoy an abundance of<br />
food and a community ethos the likes of which I have<br />
never seen before. In French Polynesia I was impressed<br />
that people’s inherent self-respect meant they were<br />
unable to accept one-way gi� s. However, they valued<br />
many of the western goods that we had aboard and we<br />
enjoyed bartering for fresh fruit or traditional artwork.<br />
In the slums of Mumbai we found people who were very<br />
poor but who worked hard and had happiness and hope.<br />
I’ve not had a ‘moment of truth’ where I want to give<br />
everything up but I certainly have a more balanced view<br />
of life, which is deeply impacting the way that I now live<br />
at home.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
I o� en thought about returning to the ‘real world’<br />
particularly once past half way. � ese thoughts brought<br />
mixed emotions. I was looking forward to returning home<br />
and even had some weird desire to work but I was also<br />
fearful that I might somehow not be able to re-engage.<br />
Once home I felt quite disorientated initially… particularly<br />
when I took my fi rst commuter train to London! I really<br />
began to question whether my life back in ‘civilisation’<br />
was in fact the ‘unreal’ one. I’ve settled in now and I’m<br />
glad to be back home. I didn’t fi nd anywhere on the trip<br />
I’d rather live. However, I don’t think I’ll ever be complete<br />
without an occasional foray into the wilderness of the<br />
sea, or some remote and thinly populated region.<br />
Our trip was marred by the tragedy of the murders of<br />
our fellow ralliers by Somali pirates. � e sadness of this<br />
will stay with me forever as will a deep guilt that I had<br />
exposed my family to such dangers. However disturbing<br />
that experience has been for us all it does not overrule<br />
my fi nal refl ection on the trip. We’ve been so incredibly<br />
privileged to see the world in this way, to meet so many<br />
wonderful people and to have shared this experience as<br />
a family. � e trepidation, and hard work before, during<br />
and a� er the trip has all been worthwhile. I can most<br />
thoroughly recommend the experience!
OWNER REPORT – MISS TIPPY<br />
����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������<br />
WINTER 2011 57
58<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER YACHT BUILDERS | CLASSIC YACHT REFIT & REPAIR | SUPERYACHT FIT OUT | SUPERYACHT REFIT & REPAIR<br />
CUSTOM NEW BUILD | PROJECT MANAGEMENT | DESIGN & ENGINEERING<br />
F U L L S T E A M A H E A D F O R W I N D S O R B E L L E<br />
In the previous issue of <strong>Oyster</strong> News we<br />
reported on the refit being undertaken on<br />
the 70�, classic steam driven �ames River<br />
launch, Windsor Belle, which was built in<br />
1901. �e major refit of this superb launch was<br />
completed in August and involved substantial<br />
structural repairs. �e latter part of the work<br />
has included the total re-plumbing of both<br />
the domestic services and the newly laid out<br />
engine room. Our skilled engineers worked<br />
alongside a specialist steam engineer, installing<br />
engine, boiler, ancillary pumps, valves and<br />
controls. �e electrical system has also been<br />
substantially renewed.<br />
Sea trials took place on the Itchen River in order<br />
to re-certificate Windsor Belle for carrying<br />
passengers. She was then transported by road<br />
to Henley where the final touches were carried<br />
out ready for her first corporate entertainment<br />
cruise. �e newly finished varnish work, the<br />
reorganised bridge controls, her gleaming brass<br />
work and spotless engine room make her a<br />
breathtaking sight, exactly 110 years a�er her<br />
original launch.
L E O PA R D 3 C H A N G E S H E R S P O T S AT S Y S<br />
Leopard 3, the well-known maxi racer, has<br />
arrived at SYS for significant upgrades and<br />
interior modifications whilst she is refitted over<br />
the winter. �e work includes the design and<br />
installation of an entirely new, lightweight<br />
interior at the forward end, plus engineering<br />
and electrical updates, which include a new<br />
generator and new air-conditioning and<br />
plumbing systems. Despite these improvements<br />
in creature comforts, the overall brief is to<br />
maintain the lowest possible weight and, to<br />
achieve this, Nomex cored joinery and carbon<br />
fibre are very much in evidence throughout<br />
SOUTHAMPTON YACHT SERVICES<br />
the yacht. Leopard 3 will be re-<strong>launched</strong> for next<br />
season – still aggressively fast, but with an interior<br />
better suited and providing more comfort for the<br />
owner and guests to enjoy on board.<br />
“We have been long time friends of SYS dating<br />
back to 1992 when they refitted Ocean Leopard<br />
then later in 2000 when SYS did all the systems<br />
and engineering on Leopard of London so it<br />
was an easy decision to return for the refit and<br />
installation of our forward accommodation –<br />
their workmanship is exceptional.”<br />
Chris Sherlock, Skipper of Leopard 3<br />
‘SMALL WORKS’ CHANGES ITS NAME TO<br />
‘OYSTER SERVICE AND REFIT’ AND STEPS<br />
U P R E S O U RC E S T O M E E T D E M A N D<br />
For some time the Small Works team at<br />
Southampton Yacht Services has been enjoying<br />
increased demand for its services and has, at<br />
times, found itself constrained by capacity<br />
limitations. We have now added extra skilled<br />
and experienced resources to the team and<br />
the department has been renamed ‘<strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Service and Refit’ to better reflect its role in<br />
providing a dedicated service to <strong>Oyster</strong> owners.<br />
�e department continues to provide repairs,<br />
overhauls, refits and general maintenance<br />
services to maintain your <strong>Oyster</strong> in peak<br />
condition. Whatever your requirements, be it<br />
for a major refit or to seek resolution to a minor<br />
issue, please contact the <strong>Oyster</strong> Customer<br />
Service team in Ipswich, who are best placed<br />
to handle all enquiries in the first instance.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Customer Service and Support can be<br />
reached at: +44 (0)1473 690198, or by email at:<br />
customerservice@oystermarine.com<br />
For further information please contact: Tel: +44 (0)23 8033 5266<br />
Email: enquiry@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk www.southamptonyachtservices.co.uk<br />
T H E N E W 8 8 5<br />
TA K E S S H A PE<br />
�e team at SYS is now working hard on the<br />
build of the first of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 885s,<br />
which started in August. �e in-house team<br />
of designers and project managers, based<br />
in Ipswich and Southampton, together with<br />
the team of approximately 30 skilled cra�smen<br />
who work daily on the yacht, have already<br />
achieved significant progress against the<br />
planned schedule. As her form takes shape,<br />
everyone at the yard is enormously proud of<br />
what they are creating, and each week of<br />
progress confirms that she is another superb<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> yacht in the making. �e yard is also<br />
busy building 725/01 and a number of other<br />
stunning <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong>.<br />
S E A L ION N OM I N AT E D<br />
F O R C L A S S IC<br />
R E S T O R AT ION AWA R D<br />
The 67ft Abeking and Rasmussen yawl,<br />
Sea Lion, which le� SYS in July a�er a major<br />
rebuild, (see <strong>Oyster</strong> News Issue 72), has been<br />
nominated for the ‘Classic Boat Restoration<br />
of the Year 2011’ award.<br />
WINTER 2011 59
60<br />
� e overall <strong>Oyster</strong> fl eet we currently<br />
support is nearly 1000 vessels, built<br />
over the last 40 years and growing<br />
all the time!<br />
The earlier models included some developed<br />
purely for racing – the SJ35s and the Lightwave<br />
395s for example and we recently had a 30-year<br />
old <strong>Oyster</strong> 37 take part in the <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta<br />
in Sardinia.<br />
The <strong>Oyster</strong> Lightwave 48, Scarlet <strong>Oyster</strong>,<br />
<strong>launched</strong> in 1987, and regularly seen on the<br />
UK race circuit and with � e Ellen McArthur<br />
Trust, is setting out across the Atlantic with<br />
the 2011 ARC fl eet.<br />
We <strong>launched</strong> nearly 350 yachts before the<br />
fi rst ‘Deck Saloon’ was introduced in the early<br />
1980s and we’ve built more than 30 powerboats<br />
– the Powerline 390 and the LD/OM43 series.<br />
We have around 600 Deck Saloon yachts on<br />
the water, including 75 <strong>Oyster</strong> 56s and 64<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 435s and of this total, Rob Humphreys<br />
has designed around 55% with Holman and Pye<br />
45%. Roughly one third of this fl eet is a current<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> model.<br />
In addition to this, we have completed custom<br />
and refi t projects through <strong>Oyster</strong>’s wholly<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER<br />
CUSTOMER<br />
SERVICES<br />
A view from the bridge<br />
During the next few months we will be strengthening the support services<br />
we provide for <strong>Oyster</strong> Owners. � e three areas we are focusing on are<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage, <strong>Oyster</strong> Charter and Technical, Spares and Refi t and<br />
it’s interesting to look at who the clients for these services are.<br />
owned Southampton Yacht Services yard (SYS)<br />
on more than 100 vessels ranging from a River<br />
� ames Steam Launch to Rivas to Superyachts<br />
to the J-Class Velsheda and 43 metre Royal<br />
Denship motoryachts.<br />
As you might imagine, the needs of the owners<br />
of this huge and diverse fl eet vary enormously<br />
and our Customer Service team strives to help<br />
every customer at every level.<br />
OYSTER CUSTOMER SERVICE<br />
AND SUPPORT<br />
Typically the <strong>Oyster</strong> Customer Service team,<br />
led by Sarah Harmer, deals with over 850<br />
requests each year for spare parts and over<br />
700 requests each year for technical advice.<br />
Our 14-strong team is always happy to assist<br />
with any enquiry and work hard to provide the<br />
best a� ersales service in the marine industry.<br />
Our aim is to provide a one-stop, comprehensive<br />
service to every <strong>Oyster</strong> yacht, regardless of its<br />
age or location. For events such as the Atlantic<br />
Rally for Cruisers (ARC), <strong>Oyster</strong> sends a full<br />
service team to the Canary Islands to give every<br />
one of our yachts a complimentary health check<br />
before the fl eet sets sail for the Caribbean and<br />
it’s this level of a� ersales care that really puts<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s Customer Service in a league of its own.
Our in-house <strong>Oyster</strong> Service and Refi t team,<br />
based at Southampton Yacht Services, has<br />
recently been strengthened to provide<br />
a dedicated service to <strong>Oyster</strong> owners. � ere<br />
are no better facilities than <strong>Oyster</strong>’s own build<br />
yards for repairs, overhauls, refi ts and general<br />
maintenance, all conveniently managed<br />
through our Customer Service department.<br />
Of course there are times when it is not possible<br />
or practical to return the yacht to the UK.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> has recently opened a new o� ce within<br />
the STP Shipyard in Palma, Mallorca. � is will<br />
provide a convenient Mediterranean base where<br />
our own team, working with their colleagues<br />
in our UK head o� ce and a number of preferred<br />
and trusted local sub-contractors, will work with<br />
owners or their representatives to ensure any<br />
work is carried out to their complete satisfaction.<br />
CUSTOMER SERVICE<br />
OYSTER BROKERAGE<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage lists around 70-80 vessels<br />
at any one time and around 30 of these<br />
yachts change hands each year. � is exclusive<br />
service, which we have provided successfully for<br />
many years from our Ipswich HQ, is a valued<br />
part of the overall owner experience. <strong>Recently</strong>,<br />
as our yachts have become ever larger, we’ve<br />
been looking at how we can improve the<br />
service for the 150 or so <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts we’ve<br />
built over 60� LOA. � ese larger yachts,<br />
with their professional crew helping with<br />
maintenance and servicing, tend to be best<br />
kept in operation whilst they are listed for sale<br />
and to support this we have just opened<br />
an o� ce in Palma, Mallorca. � e aim is to<br />
create a stronger, large yacht brokerage<br />
service, operating through the UK team<br />
working together with our brokers in our<br />
satellite o� ces in Palma and Newport, RI, USA.<br />
Berthing, repairs and maintenance, together<br />
with guardinage services, are being developed<br />
to support any owner wishing to base their<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> in Palma for brokerage, for both long<br />
or short term needs. In conjunction with this,<br />
the Palma team will build up to enable them<br />
to support the fl eet of SYS clients operating<br />
in the Mediterranean.<br />
OYSTER CHARTER<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Charter operations have expanded year<br />
on year, partly through the fantastic eff orts of<br />
Molly Marston, but also through the fact that<br />
we’ve built more and more larger yachts whose<br />
owners wish to off set some of their costs by<br />
chartering. In the last 12 months, Molly has<br />
arranged nearly 100 weeks of charter across<br />
a fl eet of nearly 25 yachts and inevitably this<br />
will grow to 150+ weeks as the fl eet continues<br />
to grow. By the time <strong>Oyster</strong> News is mailed out,<br />
we will have completed interviewing and<br />
employed another Charter Broker to be based<br />
in our new Palma o� ce, extending the reach of<br />
what we are able to off er through <strong>Oyster</strong> Charter.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> provides these services to ensure every<br />
owner feels secure that buying an <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
or commissioning a custom refi t at Southampton<br />
Yacht Services is more than just about buying the<br />
yacht, it’s an investment in a lifestyle of sailing<br />
which is supported by the <strong>Oyster</strong> Group<br />
throughout the life of the vessel, whoever may<br />
become the second, third and subsequent owners.<br />
customerservice@oystermarine.com<br />
charter@oystermarine.com<br />
brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
WINTER 2011 61
62<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
FAMILY<br />
WOLFRAM BIRKEL
VALUES<br />
BUSINESS MAN, FAMILY MAN AND OWNER OF OYSTER 56, C A T B<br />
BY LOUAY HABIB<br />
WINTER 2011 63
64<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> <strong>Yachts</strong> are as individual as their owners,<br />
however if there is such a thing as a typical <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
owner, then <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 owner Wolfram Birkel is a fine<br />
example. Wolfram is an ardent family man and<br />
a captain of industry, he strives for perfection and<br />
innovation through the pursuit of knowledge and its<br />
application and a�er a lifetime of diligently honing his<br />
family company, he feels the time is right for his son,<br />
Christoph, to take over the business reins. �is will allow<br />
Wolfram to enjoy Cat B, not so much his <strong>Oyster</strong> 56,<br />
but an <strong>Oyster</strong> for all of the Birkel family to enjoy.<br />
Wolfram Birkel’s Great Grandfather, Klaus Balthasar Birkel started the<br />
family business in 1874, a small milling and flour food business near<br />
Stuttgart in Germany. From those humble beginnings, the company<br />
diversified into other food products, distributing throughout Europe<br />
and by 1981 the company’s revenue had grown to DM450 million.<br />
Since then the Birkel family have diversified into a variety of industries.<br />
“My family is very important to me, especially as we run a business<br />
together. So it is even more important that we are all pulling the rope<br />
at the same angle, so to speak. �e Birkel family has a long heritage<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
in the business world. A long time ago my father realised that it was<br />
time for me to take over his business and recently I have done the same<br />
with my son Christoph. Our family business was established a long<br />
time ago, but our values have always remained the same, we strive to<br />
achieve the best performance but we never forget the value of working<br />
together as a family – as a team, which also includes our employees.”<br />
Wolfram Birkel studied at Berlin’s University of Technology (Technische<br />
Universität Berlin) reading both engineering and economics. Large-scale<br />
production of pasta and other food products requires specialist<br />
machinery and the scale of production requires a sound knowledge<br />
of business economics but the principles learnt go much deeper than<br />
that, as Wolfram explains;<br />
“�e combination of studying economics and engineering is an excellent<br />
way to prepare for a leadership role in any company producing and<br />
selling technical products. A company is like a machine or a system<br />
and for it to work correctly, it must be well-run, well-maintained and<br />
above all capable of producing excellent results on a regular basis.<br />
20 years ago we sold the pasta business and diversified into other<br />
areas and nowadays our business is very much involved in technology<br />
with the development of the Hit-Technopark in Hamburg.”<br />
“In the early 1990s, the German government was providing excellent<br />
funding for new companies to stimulate new ideas and products.<br />
At about that time, a new technological university was created in
Hamburg, using some old buildings and I decided to build a new<br />
building in partnership with them. � ere were a few new business<br />
parks but they wanted to rent a minimum of 400-500 square metres,<br />
which was too large an overhead for young companies and nobody<br />
was providing smaller space of this kind in Hamburg.”<br />
“20 years ago I could not spend the amount of time that I do now<br />
with my boat, I wanted to create something, a new business, a new<br />
challenge. My idea was to create a new enterprise with emerging<br />
companies and provide them with a facility to grow, an environment<br />
that suited their new ideas. As the tenants developed, more space<br />
could be made available for them to grow into. � e cost to value<br />
ratio for these businesses is very important at their early stage of<br />
development. � e majority of the tenants are smaller and mid-size<br />
businesses. � ey keep a very watchful eye over their costs and must<br />
therefore thoroughly justify each investment. It is very satisfying for<br />
me to see these companies grow but at the same time it is a viable<br />
business, as the return on the investment is also growing.”<br />
As an “idea and think tank,” the Hit-Technopark in Hamburg off ers<br />
space and technology for some 100 companies from various<br />
industries, which together employ more than 500 people. � anks to<br />
its a� liation with the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH), it is a<br />
campus for companies and scientists alike to develop and implement<br />
concepts and technologies in a networked manner.<br />
OWNER PROFILE – WOLFRAM BIRKEL<br />
“I also came to realise that if you experience the ever<br />
changing tide and wind in the Solent, you can apply<br />
this knowledge everywhere and maybe that is a good<br />
reason why there are so many good sailors from that<br />
part of the world, it is a tricky place to sail!”<br />
� is year, Wolfram Birkel was able to spend more time away from the<br />
business and sailed his <strong>Oyster</strong> 56, Cat B from Neustadt on the Baltic<br />
Sea Coast via Ipswich to the Mediterranean. Wolfram decided to<br />
make it a real exploration, stopping at many ports along the way.<br />
“It was possible to complete the trip in about 20 days but I was very<br />
keen to enjoy this trip by visiting many diff erent places along the way,<br />
to understand the way of life, to taste something of the regions we<br />
passed through. I had been to many of the countries before but to see<br />
and learn more about diff erent cultures is always exciting. For example,<br />
I have been to England many times but I didn’t know the Solent, I had<br />
never been to Cowes. Apart from visiting such historic seafaring places,<br />
I also came to realise that if you experience the ever changing tide<br />
and wind in the Solent, you can apply this knowledge everywhere and<br />
maybe that is a good reason why there are so many good sailors from<br />
that part of the world, it is a tricky place to sail!<br />
WINTER 2011 65
66<br />
“�e <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta programme is an excellent<br />
concept, a great way to promote their products and<br />
bond their consumers to the brand. As a man from<br />
the world of consumer products, I really appreciate<br />
what <strong>Oyster</strong> is achieving.”<br />
OYSTER NEWS
�ere are many yacht manufacturers and we have owned<br />
several different types of yacht but every year when I went to the<br />
Hamburg Boat Show, I found that the quality of an <strong>Oyster</strong> was<br />
the best. We didn’t want a race boat we wanted a cruising boat,<br />
suitable for all of the family and <strong>Oyster</strong> produce the best yachts<br />
of this type. �ere are some yachts, which are a lot less expensive<br />
than an <strong>Oyster</strong> but there is nothing that matches the quality.<br />
We had also heard good things about the a�ersales service and<br />
as soon as we signed the contract, we found this was completely<br />
true. We were provided with comprehensive information and<br />
regular updates and I especially enjoyed visiting the yard and<br />
watching Cat B during the build. We were encouraged to take<br />
part in the design process and were able to talk directly with the<br />
people that were actually building the boat. �ese facts made us<br />
really appreciate the amount of work that goes into making an<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>. When Birkel was advertising pasta he used a slogan in an<br />
advertising campaign. “I have a very simple taste, I always want<br />
the best.” If you are producing high quality products, you must<br />
always aim to be the best, it works for any product.<br />
�e <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta programme is an excellent concept, a great<br />
way to promote their products and bond their consumers to the<br />
brand. As a man from the world of consumer products, I really<br />
appreciate what <strong>Oyster</strong> is achieving. �e <strong>Oyster</strong> Regatta in Palma<br />
was our first and we decided to take part because although we<br />
OWNER PROFILE – WOLFRAM BIRKEL<br />
do not know many <strong>Oyster</strong> owners, the few that we do know told<br />
us that they were great fun and the regatta was a big part of our<br />
plans for this year.<br />
It is wonderful to sail with my son; it is something that we have done<br />
for 20 years together. We are both members of the same fraternity,<br />
Corps Normannia Berlin, as was all of our crew in Palma. It is a great<br />
way to get together and we have such fun. Concentrating on sailing<br />
frees your mind and revitalizes your intellect; it is a perfect way<br />
to relax. I was very surprised by how competitive <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Palma<br />
Regatta was, but that did not prevent us from achieving our ultimate<br />
goal; Cat B was full of fun on the water and all of our friends and<br />
family enjoyed the occasion very much.”<br />
Birkel’s wholehearted commitment to his family is echoed in his<br />
business philosophy, which places great value in encouraging<br />
young entrepreneurs to thrive at the Hit-Technopark in Hamburg.<br />
“I want to encourage young people with good ideas, our country<br />
needs them. I am looking forward to Christoph taking over ‘the store’<br />
so to speak, it is something that I deeply desire. My relationship<br />
with Christoph is warm and trusting and I consider him my equal.<br />
In this way, we can work out a common way to achieve important<br />
goals. �e generation gap is not an issue, I realise that Christoph<br />
may make some mistakes but the best way to learn and develop<br />
is from experience.”<br />
WINTER 2011 67
68<br />
Matthew Vincent is the CEO and head<br />
designer for Dolphin sails. With 35 years<br />
in the industry Matthew has designed<br />
many thousands of sails including<br />
many hundreds for <strong>Oyster</strong> <strong>Yachts</strong>.<br />
Matthew heads up a team that<br />
produces bespoke sails and<br />
covers manufactured in the UK<br />
at their two specialist facilities<br />
in West Mersea and Harwich.<br />
There are a number of sails that can be<br />
set for downwind or trade wind sailing.<br />
� ese include the more obvious spinnakers,<br />
asymmetrics and cruising chutes together<br />
with creative ways of setting twin headsails.<br />
Factors that may infl uence the choice of<br />
downwind sails are:<br />
�� ���������������������������<br />
�� �����<br />
�� �������������<br />
Whichever system or systems are chosen all of the<br />
above factors should be taken into consideration.<br />
Safety for any yacht and crew is clearly<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
and their setting techniques By Matthew Vincent, Dolphin Sails<br />
them should be carefully considered. It is all very<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
crew fi nd it di� cult to use then it may not be the<br />
�����������������������<br />
Speed<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������in a tricky<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
�� ����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������<br />
Snuff er stuck 3/4<br />
��������������<br />
� e modern air-infl ated snuff er mouth seems<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������<br />
�� ��������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������
Asymmetrics and cruising chutes<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������<br />
�����������������<br />
���������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
easy to use and reliable.<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
halyard swivel that is connected by a torsional<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
then the sail you already have is very likely to<br />
work with one of these furlers. A check with<br />
your sailmaker can confirm this.<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
a little more clearance of the sail from the mainsail.<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
sail behind the mainsail to reduce the wind in<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������<br />
�������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
down to the deck at a convenient time.<br />
�e beauty of these systems is that they are<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
learned but once used a few times these should<br />
become second nature.<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
should be taken into consideration.<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
encountered. Or the sail can be used in its normal<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
Twin headsails<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
a ���������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
be taken with the loads that would be associated<br />
�����������������������������������������a<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
ahead of the beam.<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
to raise a second headsail. �is can be done by<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
of their ultimate halyard tension the secondary<br />
mouse line is removed and the halyard made off<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
headsails will mainly be used downwind.<br />
One of the twin headsails can be boomed out<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
For further information and advice, please<br />
contact Matthew Vincent, Jon Sturmer<br />
or Drum Sydenham at Dolphin sails.<br />
��������������������������������������<br />
���������������<br />
Telephone: +44(0)1255 243366<br />
Email: sails@dolphin-sails.com<br />
Web: www.dolphin-sails.com<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
section of the website www.oystermarine.com<br />
WINTER 2011 69
��<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
SULANA<br />
IN<br />
NOVA SCOTIA<br />
�������������������<br />
���������������������������������������SULANA
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
“S T L U C I A T O N E W F O U N D L A N D.<br />
S U M M E R 2 0 1 1.<br />
A N Y W H E R E Y O U C H O O S E !”<br />
� is was the challenge Alan and Sue Brook set us in 2009 following<br />
a wine-fuelled livery dinner in London’s Mansion House. So a bright summer<br />
morning in June saw us boarding a plane to Nova Scotia – a choice well<br />
off the beaten track for those cruising the east coast of North America.<br />
WINTER 2011 ��
��<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
Sulana�����������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
“Sulana���������������������������<br />
������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
daily event at around £2. We made our choice from the<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
bodies back to Sulana’s�������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������<br />
Sunday a�ernoon saw Sulana������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
join Sulana��������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������Sulana�����������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������ ����������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������Sulana<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
with the crew fully alert and every electronic aid hard<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
anchor chain rattled as Sulana found her sanctuary.<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������� ���������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������� ��������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
bird �����������������������������������������������<br />
bald-headed��������������������������������������<br />
for ����������������������������������������������������<br />
too ���������������������������������������������������<br />
On day three we moved Sulana�������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
in favour of a landfall at the southern entrance to<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������<br />
At 08.00 we went to talk to the canal authority – this<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
800 ���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
Breton and the industrial towns on the north coast.<br />
We entered the canal at 10.00. A few minutes later the<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������������<br />
the south of the entire island for ten minutes.<br />
WINTER 2011 ��
��<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
with Sulana’s���������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
the ������������������������������������������������<br />
declined as well. A fearful Sulana��������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������Sulana’s�����������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
infamous black bear but two snakes and innumerable<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
to Sulana�����������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
best restaurant to thank them for the most unusual and<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������Sulana��<br />
���������������������������������������<br />
WINTER 2011 ��
��<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
������������������<br />
������������������������������������<br />
As we go to press, the countdown clock on<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally website shows there<br />
are just over 400 days to go to the start<br />
of this incredible event, which will see over<br />
30 <strong>Oyster</strong> yachts set sail from Nelson’s<br />
Dockyard in Antigua on 6 January 2013 on<br />
the journey of a lifetime.<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
held at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu<br />
at which 28 of the World Rally fl eet was<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
Saturday 24 March 2012<br />
���������������������<br />
����������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�� �����������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
Miss Tippy������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������<br />
Sunday 25 March 2012<br />
���������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������<br />
Saturday 28 - Sunday 29 April 2012<br />
��������������������������������������<br />
������������������������ �����������<br />
��������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
and hydraulics maintenance.<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������<br />
�� ����������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
off ers available to <strong>Oyster</strong> owners can be<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������<br />
debbie.johnson@oystermarine.com<br />
For more information see our World Rally<br />
website at: www.oysterworldrally.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally Partners: Cathelco Seafresh, Dolphin Sails, Formula BV, Lewmar, Musto, Pantaenius, Pelagos <strong>Yachts</strong>, Raymarine, Reckmann, Yellowbrick.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally Training Partners: Medical Support Offshore, Vortec Marine, Chris Tibbs
FOUR DOORS.<br />
FOUR SEATS.<br />
FOR TEST DRIVING NOW.<br />
THE NEW FOUR DOOR ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE<br />
For a priority test drive please visit<br />
www.astonmartin.com/oyster<br />
Official government fuel consumption figures in MPG (Litres per 100km) for the Aston Martin Rapide:<br />
Urban 12.5 (22.6), Extra Urban 27.1 (10.4), Combined 19.0 (14.9). CO 2 emissions: 355 g/km
��<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
GONE<br />
with the wind…<br />
�������������<br />
��������������������<br />
���������������������������A LADY
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������s�������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������<br />
WINTER 2011 ��
80<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
by which time it was too late to turn back.<br />
������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
Some whales came so close to the boat that we could<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
and yacht club.<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
no trouble to A Lady���������������������������������
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
the railway is worth a visit on its own for the wonderful<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
by natives while her husband was away for a few days<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
they eventually died from thirst. �eir bodies were not<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
We would o�en just lie down on the a� deck for hours<br />
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������rarely<br />
see on land.<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
boat. Sometimes it was so shallow it would test our nerves<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
of A Lady���������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������Grand Filou.<br />
������<br />
Once the outlets on A Lady’s bottom were injected by<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
here and a few days later Neil Tritschler joined A Lady<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
board. We flew the kite most of the way and were the<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
later from other yachts that had been in Bali for a while<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
doubled the day before we arrived because they were<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������<br />
WINTER 2011 81
82<br />
�������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
early. �is turned out not to make any difference and the<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������<br />
MAURITIUS<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������.<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
of �����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������A Lady��������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
towards Somalia.<br />
������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
kites of all sorts – the list was endless. �e best of all<br />
was a local monkey who came aboard A Lady early<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������
OWNER REPORT – �������<br />
�������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
��������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
with orchestral musicians.<br />
���������<br />
We travelled just 330 miles south west around the<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
of musicians and actors infused into the whole scene.<br />
������������������������������������������������������������<br />
���������������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������������<br />
in January 2011 and rejoin A Lady�������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
WINTER 2011 83
84<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
� � � �� � � � � � � � � � � ��<br />
�����������<br />
��������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
����������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
������������������<br />
�����������������������<br />
����������������������<br />
��������������������������������<br />
���������������������<br />
�������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������<br />
��������������������������������<br />
����������������������������������������<br />
������������������������������������������<br />
�����������������������������������������<br />
����������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������������<br />
�� ������������������������������������������<br />
�������������������������<br />
�������������������������������������������<br />
������<br />
����������������������������������������������������������������������������
�������������<br />
��������������<br />
������������<br />
������������<br />
������������<br />
��������<br />
+44 (0) 20 7447 7412<br />
watches@bonhams.com<br />
Bonhams<br />
101 New Bond Street<br />
London W1S 1SR<br />
A very fine and rare 18ct<br />
yellow gold manual wind<br />
chronograph wristwatch<br />
Ref:1579 by Patek Philippe<br />
with rare facetted 'spider' lugs<br />
�����������������������������������������������������������<br />
WINTER 2011 85
86<br />
OYSTER NEWS
In dia<br />
E X P E R I E N C E S O F I N D I A’ S C O A S T L I N E<br />
FROM MUMBAI TO JAIGARH<br />
Jamie and I used to sit in our Limehouse local, overlooking Old Father �ames,<br />
wondering what it would be like to bring Esper into London. It had long been<br />
an ambition of ours to sail into a big city, maybe Hong Kong or New York,<br />
and now this dream was coming true in Mumbai.<br />
BY LIZ CLEERE AND JAMIE FURLONG, OYSTER 435 �����<br />
WINTER 2011 87
88<br />
Like any major port, the approach is intimidating.<br />
You must navigate queues of commercial vessels<br />
speeding through a patchwork of shipping lanes.<br />
Fishing boats lay their nets in increasingly crowded<br />
fashion as you near your destination, ensnaring<br />
unsuspecting yachts. As you pass, the stench of<br />
countless earlier hauls makes your eyes water.<br />
You continue to dodge nets right up until arrival,<br />
while returning boats buzz you, hurrying to<br />
o�oad their morning’s work.<br />
Mumbai shrieks in your ears<br />
and laughs in your face as it<br />
tweaks your nose, not so much<br />
tickling your senses as<br />
ravishing them. It is a city of<br />
extremes and superlatives, but<br />
for a yachtsman it can be less<br />
than hospitable. We were<br />
surprised to find that there<br />
is no marina, in fact not even<br />
a pontoon, in this great city.<br />
We anchored in a sea of<br />
mulligatawny soup, complete<br />
with lumps lurking beneath the<br />
fast-moving surface. Outside<br />
the Royal Bombay Yacht Club,<br />
slap bang in front of the tourist<br />
area of Mumbai, Esper jostled<br />
for space amongst small<br />
wooden racing dinghies and<br />
superyachts, while ferries<br />
converged on us from outlying<br />
areas. Ten days earlier we<br />
were sailing in the clear and<br />
silent waters of the Arabian<br />
Sea, watching the moonlight<br />
on the water and whistling at<br />
dolphins; I began to wonder<br />
why we were in such a rush<br />
to come here. Fierce currents<br />
race back and forth with the<br />
tides and when the wind gets<br />
up it can make for an anxious night’s sleep. Wealthy Indian yacht<br />
owners slumber peacefully at home in bed while their crews maintain<br />
a vigilant anchor watch, day and night. We dig Esper well in, set the<br />
anchor alarm and check our transit lines regularly.<br />
Checking in to Mumbai is not easy. Firstly, there is no point in trying<br />
to get anyone from the port authority to answer your VHF call, they<br />
simply ignore yachts. Secondly, dealing with o�cialdom on your own<br />
in Mumbai is a notoriously rocky road to tread. With the help of<br />
Marine Solutions (see useful information) and the Royal Bombay Yacht<br />
Club – of which we were given honorary membership during our stay –<br />
we had the luxury of local help. In spite of this Lo Brust, the rally<br />
organiser, still had to ‘negotiate’ to get our fees down to a size<br />
befitting our limited budgets.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
�e job of arriving in India took two days, a long and painful process<br />
destined to be repeated wherever we went. We only have our<br />
imperialistic past to blame for the interminable waiting in halls and<br />
o�ces while one piece of paper is moved about from file to tray and<br />
back to file again, all the while being scrutinised and stamped by<br />
dull-eyed o�cials. It seems the Victorian reverence for procedures and<br />
bureaucracy has been enthusiastically embraced by our Indian cousins.<br />
We had plenty of time to scrutinise our transit lines and get used to<br />
swinging wildly on the hook as we waited to be allowed ashore.<br />
When finally the last ‘T’ had been crossed, our crowd of sea-weary<br />
travellers (most of us having not set foot on land for three weeks)<br />
were more than ready to go ashore. As there is nowhere to tie<br />
up on the wall in Mumbai you have to anchor your tender about<br />
30 metres away and rely on the altruism of a passing dinghy for<br />
a li�. Luckily for us, the rally<br />
sponsor, Marine Solutions,<br />
laid on a launch to shuttle<br />
us from boat to shore in the<br />
morning and evening. �e<br />
fast, smart launch – driven<br />
by an immaculately turned<br />
out Raj, in designer shades,<br />
coupled with our honorary<br />
membership of the Royal<br />
Bombay Yacht Club, made<br />
us feel like Bollywood stars.<br />
We piled into the launch and<br />
watched as 500 metres away<br />
Apollo Bunder, the sturdy<br />
19th Century pier, loomed<br />
under the giant Gateway<br />
of India, erected for a long<br />
dead British King. �e gothic<br />
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel,<br />
refurbished a�er the 2008<br />
bombings, dominates the<br />
skyline. �e city hums and<br />
rumbles in the distance.<br />
A quick dash across the toxic<br />
water and we stepped onto<br />
land, careful not to touch<br />
anything; the low tide had<br />
revealed a slime covered ledge<br />
and wet ‘Jackson Pollock’ walls.<br />
“Beautiful women, like exotic tropical<br />
birds, glide by in elegan t embroidered<br />
saris; swathed in endless combination s<br />
of colour and prin t”
As we climbed the steep,<br />
slippery steps to the city<br />
the decibels ramped<br />
up and the rumbling<br />
fractures into shouting<br />
voices, bellowing engines,<br />
screeching brakes and<br />
hooting taxis. �e<br />
cacophony of noise<br />
is overwhelming and<br />
with eyes smarting from<br />
the fumes we plunged<br />
into the throng.<br />
Beautiful women, like exotic tropical birds, glide by in elegant<br />
embroidered saris; swathed in endless combinations of colour<br />
and print, they seemed oblivious to the tumult. I was dazzled<br />
by them and envied their cool serenity in this pre-monsoon<br />
furnace. �roughout our ten months in India I was constantly<br />
enchanted by the way women dress themselves: from the<br />
lowliest worker in her simple cotton shalwar kameez to the<br />
jewel-encrusted red saris seen at Hindu weddings, they never<br />
fail to look dignified and feminine. India is textile heaven.<br />
We moved on, cracking jokes with the chatty men touting gaudy<br />
giant balloons and dog-eared postcards. At the Unesco-listed<br />
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus I had déjà vu, finding myself<br />
back in London, gazing at an exotic version of St Pancras.<br />
OWNER REPORT – ESPER<br />
Tramping the streets of Fort,<br />
with its university, museum<br />
and corporate buildings, we<br />
could be in Kensington Gore:<br />
any minute I expected to see<br />
the Albert Hall. In Colaba we<br />
stumbled across Leopold’s<br />
Bar, an institution among the<br />
local cognoscenti and savvy<br />
travellers. We glugged much<br />
needed beers, but there was<br />
no escaping the relentless<br />
heat and noise.<br />
By late a�ernoon we were deafened into submission and<br />
retreated to the oasis of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club to read<br />
newspapers in the air-conditioned Reading Room. Far from the<br />
madding crowd senses were soothed under slowly rotating<br />
fans, as we sipped fragrant a�ernoon tea from bone china<br />
cups. I wandered the corridors of this iconic Victorian building.<br />
Its silent retainers (all male) strained to avoid eye contact with<br />
me, which I learn later is the custom in India: to look directly<br />
into the eyes of a woman is to show your interest and deemed<br />
rude. Later, in the dark wood-panelled bar and dining room<br />
we sipped gin and tonic and, on smooth white linen tablecloths,<br />
were served the best chicken tikka masala in Mumbai. Life<br />
was good.<br />
WINTER 2011 89
90<br />
OYSTER NEWS
�at was the first of many trips into the city. We stayed in Mumbai for<br />
nearly two weeks, which for us was not long enough. Others on the<br />
rally were less enamoured of the place, blaming the poor holding as<br />
the reason for their decision to leave early. When a particularly bad<br />
blow came up one night some of the rally participants suffered yacht<br />
damage: boats dragged, tenders were lost and collisions occurred.<br />
It was an unhappy night, but one which Jamie and I peacefully slept<br />
through, relying on our anchor alarm and transit lines.<br />
Apart from all the usual cultural and historic sights, one area we<br />
had particularly hoped to see was the slums. At first we were a little<br />
reluctant to do so as we did not want to appear voyeuristic. Jamie<br />
in particular was determined that he would only take photographs<br />
of people with their permission. “For me photography is o�en about<br />
engaging with people. Despite<br />
being instructed to do so by<br />
our taxi driver I refused to stick<br />
my camera out the window<br />
of the car as we slowly drove<br />
down one really poor street.<br />
�at is voyeuristic. So on my<br />
second visit to the same street,<br />
this time on foot, I made the<br />
effort to talk to the people<br />
I was snapping and everyone<br />
I met appeared to be happy<br />
to let me photograph them.”<br />
Our advice to anyone visiting<br />
Mumbai is to go to the Dharavi<br />
slums with an open mind.<br />
In some respects ‘slums’ is<br />
a bit of a misnomer. It is true<br />
that the alleyways are little<br />
more than dirt tracks and<br />
there is squalor, but the<br />
people live in scrupulously<br />
clean homes, have access<br />
to electricity and clean water,<br />
and there is a strong sense<br />
of community.<br />
�e most touching moment<br />
for me was stumbling upon<br />
an open-air disco for the<br />
kids. Tucked into a tiny,<br />
dusty corner of a back<br />
yard, grooving to some<br />
rather excellent, banging Indian house music, were a group<br />
of bouncing kids who went absolutely mental when I joined them<br />
for a dance. One father was so pleased at the entertainment<br />
he tapped me on the shoulder and offered me a well-received<br />
can of ice-cold Sprite (I was gasping, trying to keep up with these<br />
kids in the searing heat!)<br />
Some of the Dharavi inhabitants have white-collar jobs, but return<br />
there at night to their humble dwellings. Ironically, the area is<br />
considered to be ‘prime real estate’ for its close proximity to the<br />
centre of the city, so one wonders how much longer it will be able<br />
to survive. We did find, however, that other slum areas around the<br />
city were much more disadvantaged, with folk living on the street<br />
or in tiny ‘Wendy’ houses propped up against a fence.<br />
OWNER REPORT – ESPER<br />
“Mumbai shrieks in your ears and<br />
laughs in your face as it tweaks your<br />
nose, not so much ticklin g your sen ses<br />
as ra vishin g them”<br />
In another central area of<br />
Mumbai, neither of us will<br />
forget the ‘Dhobi Ghats’,<br />
life in India in microcosm.<br />
Settled by the dhobi caste,<br />
whose centuries-old<br />
occupation is washing, the<br />
area is a complete laundry<br />
service as well as a thriving<br />
community, with schools,<br />
homes and temples dotted<br />
throughout. �e washing<br />
is collected from the door<br />
of a Mumbai household or<br />
hotel and brought to the<br />
Ghat, where it is washed,<br />
dried, ironed – sometimes<br />
starched – and returned<br />
a couple of days later.<br />
In Mumbai nobody bothers<br />
with dry cleaners or<br />
expensive mechanical<br />
launderettes and many<br />
households do not have<br />
washing machines, they<br />
simply have all their laundry<br />
done at Dhobi Ghats,<br />
keeping hundreds and<br />
thousands of people<br />
employed and living together<br />
in their own community.<br />
Eventually we reluctantly li�ed the hook. It took an hour. We pulled<br />
up our chain, other lines, floats, rubbish, cans, tangled nets, more lines,<br />
thicker lines and more bits of net. �ere was clearly no way we would ever<br />
have dragged our anchor. �e razor-sharp fishing knife had never worked<br />
so hard. Eventually we le�, heading to Jaigarh Bay, a fishing village on the<br />
mouth of the Shastri River, 110 miles south of Mumbai. April and May are<br />
the hottest months of the year as the country gears itself up for the<br />
coming cooler monsoon; this meant hot air, light wind, mostly calm seas<br />
and the occasional storms. We motor-sailed much of the way, once again<br />
dodging the nets.<br />
Jaigarh is an unspoilt and untouched fishing village. As we entered the<br />
estuary the sea boiled with prawns and a few dolphins swam past.<br />
�e entrance into the natural harbour was interesting as we watched the<br />
WINTER 2011 91
92<br />
depth gauge hover around<br />
1.5m under the keel. �e<br />
village, hidden behind an<br />
old fort wall and a hill with<br />
a solitary temple, sits at the<br />
foot of a lush rain forest. �e<br />
parks of Mumbai aside, this<br />
was the first time we had seen<br />
vegetation on such a large<br />
scale since Asmara in Eritrea,<br />
some 2,000 miles away.<br />
Jaigarh was spectacular in<br />
appearance and location. �e<br />
whole of this coast is rich in iron ore and the roads and buildings,<br />
many made of mud bricks, illustrate this. Everything is pinky red. Jamie<br />
tried to keep his images as natural as possible but even so the rich<br />
colours shine through. As he says, “Imagine saris flashing pastel pink<br />
and peach against rusty coloured buildings, all set against vivid green<br />
foliage, and you’ll begin to get an idea of the colours of Jaigarh.”<br />
We sauntered through the dusty and baking hot day to visit the<br />
temples, fishing boats and people. As Jamie’s camera pointed at the<br />
small line of women selling fish in baskets we were joined by children<br />
and adults curious to understand what we were photographing. One<br />
woman with a large single fish balanced in a basket on her head looked<br />
very proud and stopped for Jamie. �e people were shyer here, looking<br />
at us with curiosity and an intensity we had not seen in Mumbai.<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
�e village lies on a bay, with<br />
a narrow dirt track leading<br />
out and is not mentioned in<br />
any of the tourist guides we<br />
use. It is unlikely they have<br />
seen many western faces<br />
before in Jaigarh, apart from<br />
those occasional yachts,<br />
which may pass with the<br />
Vasco da Gama Rally once<br />
a year.<br />
As we wandered through<br />
one of the two parallel<br />
tracks, we stopped to talk to people along the way. We did not<br />
speak their language and none of them spoke English, but it is<br />
surprising how well you can get by with facial expressions, body<br />
language and hand gestures. �e village had a mixture of Muslim<br />
and Hindu worshippers, with both a mosque and two temples.<br />
A cheerful man invited us to have a coke in front of his house.<br />
It was a bare patch of ground with a wonky chair and an upturned<br />
pot for a table. �e family watched as we drank, and the three girls<br />
(his daughters) giggled among themselves, allowing Jamie to take<br />
their photographs. �ey each wore a colourful shalwar kameez<br />
without covering their heads. Behind them, through the front door,<br />
I glimpsed a shining tiled floor and a cool dark interior. �ey refused<br />
any payment for the coke, seemingly pleased that we had graced<br />
them with our presence.
Useful information<br />
Weather Prediction<br />
�e system employed by our leader, Lo Brust, was faultless for<br />
the entire length of the rally, o�en to within the hour. He sent out<br />
bulletins twice a day a�er which an agreement was made between<br />
the skippers about the wisdom of continuing or sheltering. �e<br />
accuracy of his weather predictions against other systems used<br />
by the rest of us was consistently proven. Lo uses Wetterwelt,<br />
the English version of which can be found here:<br />
wetterwelt.biz/html/wetterso�ware<br />
Marine Solutions<br />
Without the help of this family-run company we would have had<br />
a much harder time of it when we arrived in India; we urge you to get<br />
in touch with them if you are planning to sail to this part of the world.<br />
�ey took away the pain of checking-in and were able to help us with<br />
all manner of questions from where to buy our beer to boat repairs.<br />
All of this offered with ineffable charm and hospitality.<br />
Coastal cruising is in its infancy in India, which is why it is such an<br />
exciting place to be right now. Marine Solutions is a prominent<br />
boating company run by the Dutta family, all of whom are enthusiastic<br />
yachtsmen. It was the first company in India to sell the leisure boating<br />
idea to millions of Indians and has since grown, now selling luxury<br />
yachts, providing yacht services and developing yachting infrastructure.<br />
Contact: info@marinesolutions.in<br />
Website: www.marinesolutions.in<br />
�e bulk of the villagers<br />
are fishermen. We watched<br />
as they prepared their boats<br />
and nets for the monsoon,<br />
while the women busily dried<br />
enough fish to get them<br />
through the rainy period – the<br />
sea is too dangerous to fish<br />
in the summer months. �ere<br />
was a great kerfu�e at one<br />
point when a group of young<br />
men who had been following<br />
us brought a middle-aged man<br />
to speak to us. He was probably<br />
aged no more than 50, but he looked much older. He spoke a little<br />
broken English and was beside himself with excitement to learn that<br />
we were British. He’d served in the Indian Merchant Navy for many<br />
years and knew England well. He seemed to be highly regarded by<br />
the young men, all of whom were very respectful towards him.<br />
Meeting the people of Jaigarh was a joy that is di�cult to explain<br />
without sounding hackneyed or patronising. It made us curious to find<br />
other similarly ‘unknown’ villages, but as we had to be in Cochin<br />
before the monsoon started and the harbour was shut we did not<br />
have time to explore. We made a pact that we would go back before<br />
we le� this great country.<br />
Read more about Liz and Jamie’s journey and listen to their podcasts<br />
on the website, www.followtheboat.com<br />
Photos: Jamie Furlong<br />
OWNER REPORT – ESPER<br />
Col Regs? What’s that? Tactics for sailing through fishing boats!<br />
We were given the following advice from our Mumbaikar friend, Sandeep<br />
Mhatre, an experienced sailor in the coastal waters of India.<br />
“Indian fishing nets are generally marked by flags at the two ends, and will<br />
be lit up at night by ‘petromax’ or flashing lights. �ere are no standards of light<br />
and they can be any colour. Try to sail round them as much as possible, but<br />
if unavoidable a yacht with less than a three-metre draught can sail through<br />
the middle. Generally the small fishing boats and nets are encountered in less<br />
than 10 metres of water and the bigger ones beyond the 20-metre contour<br />
line. Try to stay about 50-100 yards at least off the stern of trawlers.”<br />
We tried to stay between the 10 and 20 metre contour lines – it worked<br />
for some of the time. Mostly, though, you just have to keep an extra<br />
special intense watch at all times. �e trouble is the markers are easy<br />
to spot at night but you don’t know what they mean and in the day you<br />
just can’t see them until it is too late. �e best bit of advice we heard was<br />
if you get tangled up just wait there. �e fishermen don’t want to lose<br />
their nets and will soon set you free themselves.<br />
Esper’s Log<br />
Date From To Distance<br />
26/04/10 Mumbai Jaigarh (17 17.39N 073 13.53E) 110<br />
Leg total 110<br />
O�cial bodies<br />
O�cial bodies will advise<br />
yachts not to transit the<br />
Gulf of Aden or sail in the<br />
Arabian Sea. For those intent<br />
on making the crossing more<br />
information can be found<br />
from the following sources:<br />
MSCHOA Maritime Security<br />
Centre – Horn of Africa.<br />
Set up by the European<br />
task force to tackle piracy<br />
in this area. Now has<br />
a section for private yachts.<br />
www.mschoa.org<br />
ICC–CCS International Chamber of Commerce: Commercial<br />
Crimes Service. �eir IMB Reporting centre has information<br />
on piracy and a map of piracy activity. www.icc-ccs.org<br />
FTB. An hourly update of data collected from more than twenty<br />
worldwide reputable sources, including those listed here.<br />
www.followtheboat.com/piracy<br />
Vasco da Gama Rally<br />
You can find out more about the Vasco da Gama Rally<br />
on their website, www.vascodagamarally.nl<br />
WINTER 2011 93
94<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
OYSTER YACHT<br />
CHARTER
A holiday on an <strong>Oyster</strong> Charter yacht is an<br />
opportunity to sample life on board some of the<br />
most luxurious yachts afl oat and your passport to<br />
the ultimate cruising experience. We have a range<br />
of yachts from 56 to 82 feet, which are all<br />
individually owned and impeccably maintained.<br />
Operated by professional crews, an <strong>Oyster</strong> Charter<br />
guarantees you a relaxing holiday, tailored to a<br />
pace to suit you and your family and friends.<br />
OYSTER CHARTER<br />
RAVENOUS II OYSTER 82<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – US East Coast<br />
PANDEMONIUM OYSTER 82<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Eastern Med<br />
Summer – Greece & Turkey<br />
ZIG ZAG OYSTER 82<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Mediterranean<br />
WINTER 2011 95
96<br />
Sistership Sistership<br />
OOFLEDUST CUSTOM 82<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – not available<br />
MAGRATHEA OYSTER 72<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Greece & Turkey<br />
KEALOHA 8 OYSTER 72<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Western Mediterranean<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
STRAVAIG OYSTER 72<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – not available<br />
Summer – Western Mediterranean<br />
KOLUKA OYSTER 72<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Croatia<br />
ILITHYIA OYSTER 68<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Western Mediterranean
FUERTE OYSTER 66<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – TBD<br />
BLUE HORIZON OYSTER 655<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Western Mediterranean<br />
ON LIBERTY OYSTER 575<br />
4 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Mediterranean<br />
OYSTER CHARTER<br />
NEKI OYSTER 655<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – US East Coast<br />
BLUE JEANNIE OYSTER 625<br />
6 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Mediterranean<br />
BOARDING PASS III OYSTER 575<br />
4 Guests<br />
Winter – Caribbean<br />
Summer – Mediterranean<br />
For further information on the <strong>Oyster</strong> Charter fl eet please contact Molly Marston on:<br />
+1 401 846 7400 email molly.marston@oystermarine.com or visit www.oystercharter.com<br />
WINTER 2011 97
98<br />
THE<br />
26 th<br />
ARC<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
T H E 2 6 T H A T L A N T I C<br />
R A L L Y F O R C R U I S E R S<br />
S T R O N G O Y S T E R S U P P O R T<br />
I N L A S P A L M A S
�e excitement was palpable in Las Palmas, as all<br />
along the dock final preparations for the annual<br />
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers carried on apace.<br />
217 yachts, supplemented by the ever-present<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> fleet, ensured the usual festival feel of<br />
the ARC was already in full swing by the time<br />
I arrived four days before the start.<br />
Whilst <strong>Oyster</strong> owners and crews partied and<br />
prepared, the <strong>Oyster</strong> Service and Support team<br />
worked feverishly to ensure their yachts got<br />
to the start line in the best possible condition.<br />
�is kind of service is something <strong>Oyster</strong> owners<br />
have grown accustomed to – and how they<br />
appreciate it!<br />
�e 2011 ARC fleet includes eight <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong>, one of<br />
which is Roger Soukup’s brand new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625,<br />
Bandido, however, <strong>Oyster</strong>’s top-notch service<br />
is by no means restricted to the brand new<br />
models such as the <strong>Oyster</strong> 625. Tom Carbaugh<br />
has completed an eight and a half year<br />
circumnavigation of the globe on board<br />
Glass Slipper, his <strong>Oyster</strong> 53. “�ey have helped<br />
us all around the world. Answering questions,<br />
sending parts, suggestions on agents in different<br />
places when we needed specific specialists.<br />
Very, very valuable to anybody doing a<br />
circumnavigation”, Tom told me. “When <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
came on board three days ago to do their check<br />
OYSTER ENTRANTS<br />
THE 26TH ARC<br />
out, I had never seen anything like it. Nobody<br />
here had even heard of another yacht builder<br />
being that thorough, spending the time they did<br />
with absolutely no charge. It’s just a tremendous<br />
a�ersale service.” Tom explained.<br />
Glass Slipper is the 40th <strong>Oyster</strong> to complete a<br />
circumnavigation, but was not the only yacht in<br />
the <strong>Oyster</strong> ARC 2011 contingent to have managed<br />
the feat. David Holliday, who completed his own<br />
round the world circuit on board his beautiful<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 72 Kealoha 8, is participating in the ARC<br />
for a third time. Having sailed for many years, he<br />
couldn’t think of a better boat to do it in. “�ese<br />
boats are built to go across oceans – they are so<br />
well equipped.”<br />
Similar to Tom, David felt a huge part of the<br />
peace of mind you get when going to sea<br />
on an <strong>Oyster</strong> stems from the support owners<br />
receive. “�e <strong>Oyster</strong> people came round the<br />
world (on the circumnavigation), and were just<br />
excellent. �ey do a first class job, the support<br />
we get is out of this world.”<br />
Start day for the 26th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers,<br />
provided a brisk northerly wind and blue skies<br />
– perfect conditions for a downwind start and<br />
a swi� departure for the 217 yachts and 1,188<br />
people taking part for their passage across<br />
the Atlantic.<br />
Scarlet <strong>Oyster</strong> Ross Applebey <strong>Oyster</strong> LW48 GBR<br />
Norman g III Marshall Glynn <strong>Oyster</strong> 49 GBR<br />
Glass Slipper �omas Carbaugh <strong>Oyster</strong> 53 USA<br />
Sophistikate Richard & Angela Parkinson <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 GBR<br />
Dreamer Chris & Paula Glossop <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 GBR<br />
Sydney Rock Robert & Diana Jansen <strong>Oyster</strong> 61 AUS<br />
Bandido Roger Soukup <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 USA<br />
Kealoha 8 David & Diana Holliday <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 GBR<br />
“Having a team on hand in Las Palmas<br />
is clearly something <strong>Oyster</strong> owners<br />
value enormously. I spoke to many<br />
skippers and crew during my stay<br />
there, and no manufacturer had<br />
nearly as much presence at the<br />
ARC. It’s easy to see why people<br />
want to make the 2,700-mile trip<br />
to St. Lucia with <strong>Oyster</strong>.”<br />
While the ARC is a cruising rally, there is a start<br />
and finish line, and the boats are split into<br />
divisions according to size, type and competition.<br />
Whilst most of the <strong>Oyster</strong> fleet opted for the<br />
Cruising Division, in the IRC racing division, run<br />
under the auspices of the Royal Ocean Racing<br />
Club (RORC), the 22-boat fleet was lead across<br />
the line by a tight group of five yachts, all flying<br />
spinnakers. �is included the veteran <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
Lightwave 48, Scarlet <strong>Oyster</strong> owned by Ross<br />
Applebey, making her first Atlantic crossing.<br />
For more information about World Cruising<br />
Club and the ARC please visit:<br />
www.worldcruisingclub.com<br />
Photos: Ian Roman<br />
BY JONATHON MEDWAY<br />
WINTER 2011 99
100<br />
OYSTER NEWS
OWNER REPORT – SEA ROVER<br />
O U R<br />
CRUISING<br />
LIFE<br />
BY MIKE AND DEVALA ROBINSON, OYSTER 46, SEA ROVER<br />
Cruising life is a life where you’re never quite sure what’s around the next corner<br />
(or headland). No matter how well prepared, there is always the unpredictable, such as the<br />
low that suddenly veers towards you, when you had thought it would safely pass miles away.<br />
At times like that we are so appreciative of our <strong>Oyster</strong> 46 Sea Rover that seems to happily<br />
take anything the wind and waves throw at her with equal grace, carrying us safely through it all.<br />
� e unpredictable also has its pleasant side, new people you meet and the new friendships<br />
that form as you gradually get to know fellow cruisers you meet in anchorage a� er anchorage.<br />
WINTER 2011 101
102<br />
In one bay off New Zealand’s Barrier<br />
Island, we hosted a larger than usual<br />
gathering for 17 people onboard<br />
Sea Rover then we all moved on<br />
to an <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 for a sit down meal.<br />
A great way to start our sailing season!<br />
�is pleasant evening was followed by a couple<br />
of weeks cruising around that well-kept Kiwi<br />
secret, the Hauraki Gulf, in our opinion much<br />
better than the Bay of Islands. �en on to Opua,<br />
near the top of North Island, where we joined<br />
up with the many other cruisers planning to head<br />
north to avoid the Southern Hemisphere winter.<br />
A time for renewing friendships with cruisers<br />
we met last year as we sailed through the Pacific,<br />
and for preparing for another season in what we<br />
have learnt to call ‘the islands’.<br />
Like everyone else in Opua, we sat and waited for<br />
the weather, mindful of the potential dangers of<br />
merely hoping that a threatened low might not<br />
hit. It always does! When the weather ‘window’<br />
finally came we set off for Fiji, approximately<br />
1,100 miles north. The passage was largely<br />
uneventful, we say largely, there was one<br />
incident. We were happily batting along beam<br />
reaching in force 5-6, Sea Rover as ever rock<br />
solid and a pleasure to sail. �en at 17.25 (I know<br />
that because I had just switched on the SSB to<br />
speak to another boat) and in the fading light<br />
BANG! �e genoa, up until now well reefed,<br />
suddenly deployed to its full 140% glory, not<br />
what you want in a force 6. The line on the<br />
furling mechanism had just snapped, particularly<br />
galling as we had fitted a new line before leaving<br />
New Zealand. Mike was having a nap and I woke<br />
him gently with the words “Houston we have<br />
a problem”. �ere then followed two hours as<br />
darkness fell and Mike rigged the old furling<br />
line. Behind those simple lines was the reality<br />
of Mike kneeling in the bow of the boat with<br />
waves crashing over him as I tried to hold the<br />
helm head to wind to allow him to turn the<br />
furling mechanism. A�er some time we got it<br />
moving, but in the dark Mike wasn’t confident<br />
he had done this successfully and we decided<br />
not to risk it like this overnight. So that le� only<br />
one thing to do, drop the genoa – ha ha!<br />
We vaguely remember such manoeuvres from<br />
sail training before the days of self-furling<br />
mechanisms but our genoa is a brute and there<br />
was a real danger of it landing in the drink, at<br />
which point hauling it back aboard, full of water<br />
and in the dark, would have been no joke. Still<br />
we got it down and lashed to the deck with sail<br />
ties. What we should have done next was pause,<br />
catch our breath and check the storm jib was<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
properly rigged before hoisting it (it was on the<br />
foredeck as we had used it in earnest through<br />
the worst of a low a couple of days before). But<br />
we didn’t wait. We quickly hoisted up the jib, only<br />
to find the sheets thrashing and flogging around<br />
the mast, they caught in my lifeline and I was<br />
stranded at the mast being beaten up by the<br />
lines. Mike had to rescue me, getting thwacked<br />
several times very viciously in the process, we<br />
had to drop the jib and then undo the ‘knitting’<br />
that the sheets had become and re-hoist it.<br />
We heard of far worse experiences on the sail<br />
north to the islands and even before we arrived<br />
safely in Suva, <strong>Oyster</strong> Customer Services were<br />
preparing to send spare parts for our damaged<br />
furling mechanism. �ey have never failed to get<br />
parts to us, making us wonder why we are<br />
carrying just so many spares in this harsh salt<br />
environment. �e formalities of clearing in were<br />
simpler than we had been led to expect, even<br />
if we had to get used to the fact that the guy<br />
from health and safety was wearing a pinstriped<br />
skirt (or sula). We soon became surprisingly used<br />
to seeing policemen, the armed forces and many<br />
of the men and boys we met wearing sulas.<br />
Armed with paper charts lent by fellow cruisers,<br />
we set about navigating our way through coral<br />
reefs as we cruised around the main islands of Fiji<br />
(Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) and the smaller islands<br />
in the north east corner of Fiji. Until now we had<br />
been impressed by the accuracy of our Navionics<br />
charts, even in many remote parts of French<br />
Polynesia. Not so in Fiji where local sailors talk<br />
of SNAGS – Satellite Navigation Assisted<br />
Groundings! Whilst the charting of the land was
good, its position was o�en ‘out’ and it was not<br />
unusual to find ourselves sailing over areas which<br />
our electronic charts clearly showed as terra firma!<br />
We found it safer to use the electronic charts more<br />
like paper charts and once again we used the radar<br />
overlay function to assess the disparity between<br />
our charted position and reality! Such navigation<br />
near land mixes old and new, conning from the<br />
bow, verified waypoints from trusted other cruisers<br />
and good old-fashioned pilotage. Nice to know we<br />
hadn’t forgotten all our old skills and even in the<br />
21st Century’s world of electronics they were still<br />
coming in useful. Fiji is definitely not a place to sail<br />
around in poor visibility and we frequently found<br />
ourselves having to slow down Sea Rover, to time<br />
arrivals so the sun was high enough to safely<br />
navigate the coral strewn channels.<br />
It would be all too easy to spend your time just<br />
with other cruisers, and great fun though that is,<br />
we still hope to improve our sketchy knowledge<br />
of the diverse peoples and cultures of the vast<br />
South Pacific. Admittedly this is a challenge when<br />
English is at best a second or third language<br />
for most of the people we meet and our ‘other<br />
languages’ are pretty lamentable. Sea Rover is<br />
beginning to have an eclectic collection of books<br />
on missionaries, cannibals and cultures and we’ve<br />
OWNER REPORT – SEA ROVER<br />
both become inveterate museum goers in an<br />
attempt to understand more about where we<br />
are and the impacts of the early European visitors.<br />
�e ‘rewards’ for the effort of making time to go<br />
ashore and meet local people have been some<br />
priceless moments and lasting memories. Two<br />
people who come to mind from our cruise in<br />
Fiji’s waters are Joseph and Malau.<br />
Joseph aged early to mid-twenties lives with his<br />
brother and younger cousin on a remote atoll,<br />
Naqelelevu, in the far north-eastern corner of Fiji’s<br />
territorial waters. We enjoyed a beach barbeque<br />
with them one evening during our stay, anchored<br />
off their settlement, or at least what is le� of it<br />
a�er last year’s cyclone.<br />
These young men make a living collecting and<br />
preserving sea cucumbers, which are highly prized<br />
by the Chinese and Japanese markets. When they<br />
have a decent load and can get a li� from passing<br />
fishermen they head off to the island of Taveuni<br />
to sell their catch – for good prices, anything from<br />
15 to 60 Fijian dollars per kilo (not bad when many<br />
employed local people earn between 10 – 25 Fijian<br />
dollars a day). We thought that they would then<br />
immediately go out ‘on the town’; a bit of bingeing<br />
on drink and grog etc much like many youngsters<br />
of their age. Not at all, as Joseph says “We take our<br />
money to the bank, we have a card to buy the<br />
provisions we need, yes we have some fun and<br />
drinks but we are saving our money so we don’t<br />
have to work when we are old”.<br />
Pension planning in the Pacific! We wondered<br />
how many 20-somethings we know in the UK<br />
are doing the same?<br />
�en at the other end of the age spectrum there<br />
is Malau, 63 and living in a simple hut of coconut<br />
branches and leaves on a remote island with very<br />
few possessions (and even fewer teeth). To reach<br />
him we conned our way through the two passes<br />
in the skirting coral reefs that bound Albert Cove<br />
on the north west of Rabi Island. When we took<br />
the dinghy ashore, empty handed, he generously<br />
gave us coconuts and lemons and was clearly<br />
pleased to see us and chat in broken English.<br />
It was easy to think of Malau as a simple man<br />
with no choices, living in poverty. �at stereotype<br />
was confounded when we learnt that he had<br />
lived and worked in the airport several hundred<br />
miles away, in his own country Tuvalu, he could<br />
get by in four languages and had chosen, in<br />
his old age, to live simply on the beach, with<br />
a few pigs, his garden providing fruit and<br />
vegetables and the sea providing fish. He was,<br />
he said repeatedly, “free”. He, like us, had made<br />
WINTER 2011 103
104<br />
a lifestyle choice and change. Whilst he was<br />
very grateful for the few things we le� him,<br />
we realised that he had chosen the ‘Good Life’<br />
and was clearly very happy with his choice.<br />
And this cruising life is just that – a life change<br />
(and choice), not a holiday. We worry that sounds<br />
a bit precious but for so many of our family and<br />
friends what we are doing seems like one long<br />
jolly jaunt, sailing off into the sunset. We o�en<br />
reflect that everything that made us fall in love<br />
with Sea Rover, needs polishing, maintaining and<br />
servicing and yet we too plead guilty to showing<br />
only the glamour. Like any change of lifestyle<br />
there is all the behind the scenes hard work.<br />
Friends of ours who set off on a circumnavigation<br />
in the ‘90s would o�en say that at least we<br />
understood what they were doing. We thought<br />
we did, but now older and wiser we realise we<br />
didn’t appreciate just how time-consuming it<br />
could be. Perhaps we missed those bits in the<br />
articles we read before we set off!<br />
�e generosity and willingness to help out in the<br />
sailing community is another constant surprise.<br />
It extends from the high-quality information<br />
passed on willingly, exchanging waypoints for<br />
di�cult channels or favourite anchorages over<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
a drink, to helping out when in dire need, like<br />
cruisers we barely knew filling our water tanks<br />
when our generator wasn’t working last year and<br />
we couldn’t make water. It is a world so unlike the<br />
one we were used to ashore in our busy lives in<br />
London, where the road from acquaintance to<br />
friend was much slower. �e cruising community<br />
is in some ways akin to a village or neighbourhood<br />
and, like good neighbours you are willing to help<br />
each other out. But at sea, where so many of us<br />
are so far from home, it seems the willingness<br />
and friendship comes more quickly.<br />
Of course it wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have<br />
a wedding to go to. �is year, as last, it was the<br />
wedding of two other cruisers, Isabelle and Brian<br />
on their <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 Wasabi with whom we had<br />
become friends since sharing haul-out facilities in<br />
New Zealand. So from shared travel li� to shared<br />
moments in life, we made our way to Musket<br />
Cove resort in the Mamanuccas Islands, south<br />
west Fiji.<br />
Even though it is primarily a hotel they make<br />
‘yachties’ very welcome, so much so they have<br />
a yacht club (of which we are now members) and<br />
allow full access to all the resort’s facilities. On one<br />
level Musket Cove could be any tropical resort,<br />
but the difference is the staff. Within 24 hours<br />
they knew our names, which drinks to serve us<br />
(we weren’t spending that much time at the bar<br />
– honest) and the boat name for the bar tab.<br />
It was explained to us that because Fijians have<br />
such large extended families they are used to<br />
memorising people, faces, names and connections<br />
even a�er only a short time together; the result<br />
is that you are made to feel special.<br />
A�er two months of great cruising we set off<br />
westwards, back into the south-east trades<br />
heading for Vanuatu, some 500 hundred miles<br />
away. Amazing how quickly you forget the ‘rock<br />
and roll’ of downwind sailing and the need to stuff
kitchen towels, socks, anything into cupboards to<br />
stop that annoying ‘chink’ or ‘clunk’ that keeps you<br />
awake far more than the weather. Winds were<br />
a stiff force 6 and the seas were boisterous a�er<br />
several days of rougher conditions. Sea Rover<br />
took it in her stride, as always. We forget the<br />
number of times we’ve been so grateful for such<br />
a well-built boat, combined with her weight and<br />
a beam of over four metres, she is rock solid in<br />
all sorts of weather. She more than repays the<br />
days spent on maintenance and servicing on the<br />
principle of ‘look a�er the boat and she will look<br />
a�er you’.<br />
�e next bit will be di�cult, Vanuatu warrants<br />
a whole article all on its own and it was truly<br />
fascinating. We are learning to plan our sailing<br />
not only around seasons and prevailing winds<br />
but also around what is happening in the places<br />
we are visiting and in Vanuatu we ended up<br />
becoming festival groupies as we sailed between<br />
Malekula, Ambrym and Vanua Lava enjoying the<br />
tremendous spectacle of the different photogenic<br />
kastom festivals, each island with its own traditions,<br />
costumes and dances.<br />
�ere were other places we might have ‘ticked off’<br />
if we had rushed more, but we continually find the<br />
adage of ‘less is more’ holds true. �e festival in<br />
Labo in South West Bay, Malekula was very special<br />
as they were installing (if that is the correct term)<br />
two new chiefs, one the first Kastom chief ever<br />
in that village and the second man was replacing<br />
an aged chief who had become too frail to<br />
fulfil his duties. We felt privileged to be there.<br />
OWNER REPORT – SEA ROVER<br />
�e following day two local people, Willy and<br />
Simeon, took us on a walk to see their gardens.<br />
We, of course, think of a garden as something<br />
you step into out of the back door, but not<br />
here. Here you are talking about an hour’s hike<br />
up a hillside on narrow muddy tracks, often<br />
machete in hand to clear the way. We stopped<br />
at the old chief’s house and were shown into a<br />
traditional hut where the chief sat in the dark<br />
on homemade matting, his elderly wife close<br />
by. Willy interpreted for us and the chief was<br />
clearly delighted to see us, his eyes twinkled<br />
and he grasped our hands, unwilling to let go.<br />
When we gave him our simple gifts of rice,<br />
sugar and salt he immediately invited us to eat<br />
with him. We declined saying we hadn’t come<br />
to be a burden and, wishing him well, went on<br />
our way. Towards the end of our walk we were<br />
led to a clearing in the hillside where a fire had<br />
been lit and beside it, on banana leaves, a meal<br />
had been prepared for us – coconuts, bananas,<br />
taro and island cabbage that had been cooked<br />
in bamboo, all at the chief’s behest. Just one of<br />
the very many, special things that have happened<br />
to us when we have chosen to spend time with<br />
local people we have met along the way. Again<br />
new acquaintances and people we will search<br />
out next time we are here.<br />
But we also have a conundrum. We are<br />
welcomed into people’s villages and homes<br />
and so it feels right to reciprocate and welcome<br />
them aboard Sea Rover, which we have done on<br />
many occasions in anchorages where we feel<br />
comfortable. However, we were struck by Mamu,<br />
a young girl who had been our guide, explaining<br />
the dances and their significance at one festival.<br />
When we dinghied her out to our boat, a�er<br />
looking around she announced she didn’t want<br />
to go home. It was a joke but there was an<br />
edge to it. Had we sown the seeds of discontent,<br />
showing her a life she couldn’t have, a life she<br />
will see more of as satellite dishes are beginning<br />
to appear in some, once remote, villages?<br />
Inviting people into our home still feels ‘right’<br />
and something we will continue to do. It certainly<br />
seemed appreciated and those who came out<br />
enjoyed the interaction with the boats anchored<br />
off shore.<br />
Our conversations with him were fascinating,<br />
ranging from his liaison role with the police on<br />
the issues of domestic violence (apparently a<br />
real problem within Melanesian society) to how<br />
he saw the future of Kastom. For many citizens<br />
of Vanuatu – ni-Van as they are known – Kastom<br />
is an essential part of their national identity.<br />
This is particularly the case in rural areas,<br />
but these traditions are increasingly threatened<br />
by development – both good and bad – and<br />
Vanuatu appeared to us to be at a crux where<br />
much that is now authentic could soon become<br />
merely a tourist spectacle. Graham appeared<br />
to appreciate what was at stake and that there<br />
are no easy answers, certainly not the glib ones<br />
we heard from some we met.<br />
Once again we were sad to be moving on,<br />
leaving ‘yachtie’ friends and new acquaintances<br />
ashore, as we prepared to sail the 1,200 miles<br />
to Australia. Our life has become one of constant<br />
farewells, the wave good bye and the salutation<br />
of “See you down the track”, one of sincere hope<br />
but not always expectation. Vanuatu is a country,<br />
which has enthralled us and we promise ourselves<br />
that we will return before reluctantly leaving the<br />
South Pacific.<br />
So as we headed for Australia, looking forward<br />
to Christmas and New Year in Sydney and<br />
meeting up with cruising friends (our floating<br />
village in the South Pacific!) we were reminded<br />
that we were headed for the country that once<br />
spawned the TV soap ‘Neighbours’ with the<br />
cheesy but apposite theme tune extolling<br />
‘... when good neighbours become good<br />
friends’. We can’t help but think that may<br />
well sum up one of many special aspects<br />
of our cruising life.<br />
Mike and Devala Robinson’s account of their<br />
Cruising Life on board Sea Rover has also been<br />
published by the Royal Cruising Club.<br />
Photos: Mike and Devala Robinson<br />
WINTER 2011 105
106<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
The Studio will manage your interior design scheme from<br />
concept to installation, before handing over a beautifully<br />
considered home. Our dedicated team is available to consult<br />
on projects large or small.<br />
For a consultation in one of our private client suites, please visit<br />
The Studio at Harrods, Third Floor. For further information<br />
call +44 (0)20 7225 5926 or visit thestudioatharrods.com
CLUB<br />
THE<br />
3&$(#+("44+5(6"7(&$(7.85&'+9(<br />
:",$(;*+(3%75/*$%$+%EG1"(1>"("$;'%A/.,#%10L%*+0L"$"+0#%1::(;<br />
!"#"$%&&&'#()'*+,%-+.%,+./%"0-+.,1$"+0<br />
Experience another World<br />
E((%M;#$/.%#1"(+.#%&)+%5+"0%$)/%H(B>%&"((%>/%<br />
B:4.1L/L%$+%N+G/L%H(B>%O/,>/.%#$1$B#C%41"0"04<br />
/3$.1%>/0/-"$#%/G/0%+0%$)/%-".#$%>++P"04'<br />
2*10%$)/%QK%*+L/%>/(+&%+.%G"#"$%&&&'#()'*+,%<br />
$+%5+"0%10L%,1P/%#B./%;+B%#/(/*$%M;#$/.%"0%$)/%<br />
RB/#$"+0%ST)/./%L"L%;+B%)/1.%1>+B$%2NUVW%$+%*(1",%<br />
;+B.%/3$.1%>/0/-"$#'<br />
!"#$%"&'()*+(,-*"$+(&..<br />
###/0%*/1"2<br />
WINTER 2011 107
108<br />
2004 <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 Bare Necessities<br />
Immaculately maintained, regardless of cost, by the same skipper who oversaw<br />
her build. A truly striking yacht, with metallic blue hull and pearlescent mast, her<br />
powerful cutter rig with fully battened mainsail and hydraulic headsail furling<br />
£2,600,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: UK South Coast<br />
PRICE REDUCED<br />
2006 <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 TillyMint<br />
We are pleased to announce a massive £400,000 price drop on the stunning<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 82 TillyMint. �is yacht has been luxuriously appointed with all optional<br />
equipment and extras that you would expect on board a vessel of this class. Built to<br />
MCA charter standards but equally at home for private use. Her stunning interior<br />
£2,350,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: <strong>Oyster</strong> UK<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage Ltd: Fox’s Marina Ipswich Suffolk IP2 8SA UK<br />
T: +44 (0)1473 695100 F: +44 (0)1473 695120 E: brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage USA: Newport Shipyard One Washington Street Newport RI 02840 USA<br />
T: +1 401 846 7400 F: +1 401 846 7483 E: info@oystermarine.com<br />
SAIL | BROKERAGE | CHARTER | REFIT<br />
www.oysterbrokerage.com<br />
provides exceptional performance with minimum effort. She sleeps up to ten in five<br />
cabins, and has elegant and contemporary maple joinery. With exceptional charter<br />
potential, she also boasts the most comprehensive inventory seen on an <strong>Oyster</strong> 82.<br />
has been further enhanced this summer with brand new cream leather upholstery<br />
which complements her elegant classic mahogany joinery. Her panoramic deck<br />
saloon views, her light and airy interior and her proven seaworthiness and comfort<br />
truly make her the ultimate liveaboard yacht.
2006 <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 Holo Kai<br />
OYSTER BROKERAGE – THE SPECIALISTS IN PRE- OWNED OYSTER YACHTS<br />
Elegant <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 with cutter rig and hydraulic in-mast furling. Sumptuous interior<br />
finished in maple with contrasting teak floorboards giving a light and contemporary<br />
feel under the sleek deck saloon. She is fully equipped for use as a family yacht or<br />
charter business.<br />
£2,350,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: Caribbean<br />
2005 <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 Spirit of Montpelier<br />
�e fastest <strong>Oyster</strong> ever <strong>launched</strong>, this is a very special <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 with a rare<br />
combination of searing pace and luxury. �e owner is keen to move her on quickly<br />
and ready to negotiate, bring offers – you may be surprised!<br />
£2,000,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: West Med<br />
2007 <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 Cookielicious<br />
Eye catching <strong>Oyster</strong> 72, cutter rigged with in-mast furling. She offers a modern feel<br />
thanks to her maple joinery, teak floorboards and leather upholstery. Highly specified<br />
and branded with a striking orange theme. She has built up a successful charter<br />
record. Offered in first class turn-key condition.<br />
£2,200,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: UK South Coast<br />
NEW LISTING<br />
Please visit the <strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage team at the London Boat Show on the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
stand, no. H161 in the Boat Hall, where we have the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 on show.<br />
We will also have an <strong>Oyster</strong> 46 and an <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 on the water at berth no. M116 & M117.<br />
Please call us ahead of your visit to make an appointment to view these yachts.<br />
Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 100 or email us at brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
We will also be attending Boot Düsseldorf, where we have a new <strong>Oyster</strong> 54<br />
and new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 on show. You will find us on the <strong>Oyster</strong> stand no. C58.<br />
2008 <strong>Oyster</strong> 72 Stravaig of Argyll<br />
Specified with breathtaking attention to detail, from the black carbon spars, to her<br />
carbon wheels, and custom deck fittings. Beautiful interior in teak, with accommodation<br />
for ten in five cabins. Four times Winner of <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Concours d’Elégance, this is an<br />
immaculate yacht, suitable for luxury charter or family sailing.<br />
£2,500,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: West Med<br />
WINTER 2011 109
110<br />
NEW LISTING<br />
2008 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Lush<br />
Featuring a walk-thru passage to the forepeak cabin with two additional berths (total<br />
of eleven), Lush has a very flexible layout. American oak interior and teak parquet sole<br />
with Anthrancite (black) Alcantara cushions in the saloon and coordinated Avonite<br />
Nightpearl countertops in the galley. In the water and ready for her next adventure.<br />
US$2,750,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: Ft Lauderdale FL, USA<br />
NEW LISTING<br />
2011 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Rachel of London<br />
�is is one of the most detailed and glamorous <strong>Oyster</strong> 655s we have produced to<br />
date. Light maple joinery with teak floor and trims. She is cutter rigged with in-mast<br />
furling. Rachel is now for sale to make way for a new larger <strong>Oyster</strong>. �is is a very<br />
unusual opportunity to buy an exquisite yacht that is little more than ‘run in’.<br />
£2,200,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: UK South Coast<br />
2007 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Roulette v2<br />
Special high performance version of the popular <strong>Oyster</strong> 655, built with foam<br />
cored interior joinery to save weight whilst retaining strength, also taller than<br />
standard carbon fibre rig with swept back spreaders for improved sailing.<br />
Impeccably maintained by full time skipper to the highest standard.<br />
£1,700,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: East Med<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage Ltd: Fox’s Marina Ipswich Suffolk IP2 8SA UK<br />
T: +44 (0)1473 695100 F: +44 (0)1473 695120 E: brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
www.oysterbrokerage.com<br />
2008 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Restless<br />
Teak interior joinery with routered teak sole along with Amberglow Alcantara cushions<br />
make for a stunning interior that has both depth and a light feel. Back from a jaunt<br />
across the Pacific with recent 2010 performance sails including a Gennaker and custom<br />
stainless steel bowsprit and carbon pole, she is lightly used and shows very well.<br />
US$2,835,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: Newport RI, USA<br />
2007 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Acheron<br />
Beautiful <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 with American cherry interior joinery and Sea Sand Alcantara<br />
upholstery. Eight berths in four cabins afford her guests and crew sumptuous<br />
accommodation in all weathers. Cutter rig with hydraulic in-mast furling. An easily<br />
handled yacht that has been skipper maintained since her launch in 2007.<br />
£1,790,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: West Med<br />
2007 <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 Blue Destiny<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage USA: Newport Shipyard One Washington Street Newport RI 02840 USA<br />
T: +1 401 846 7400 F: +1 401 846 7483 E: info@oystermarine.com<br />
SAIL | BROKERAGE | CHARTER | REFIT<br />
�e first of the 655s and built to MCA charter specifications. �e interior joinery<br />
is finished in American white oak with superb owner’s detailing. In-mast mainsail,<br />
hydraulic furling and electric winches make this a safe, easy to handle oceangoing<br />
yacht.<br />
£1,650,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: West Med
OYSTER BROKERAGE – THE SPECIALISTS IN PRE- OWNED OYSTER YACHTS<br />
NEW LISTING PRICE REDUCED<br />
2008 <strong>Oyster</strong> 62 UHURU<br />
Fresh from a refit, UHURU is a striking <strong>Oyster</strong> g5 62.<br />
�e recently re-sprayed dark blue hull ensures she is a<br />
real head turner. �is yacht is extensively equipped and<br />
complete with extra equipment to enable world sailing<br />
and exploring the high and low latitudes.<br />
£1,395,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: UK South Coast<br />
NEW LISTING<br />
2005 <strong>Oyster</strong> 49 Florence<br />
Florence is a beautiful example of the popular <strong>Oyster</strong> 49.<br />
Finished in maple joinery and equipment includes electric<br />
winches, bow thruster, generator, water maker, heating,<br />
radar/chart plotter. She is fitted with a fully battened<br />
mainsail and StakPack system.<br />
£499,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: UK South Coast<br />
Sistership<br />
2006 <strong>Oyster</strong> LD43 Needia<br />
LD43 motor cruiser, professionally maintained by full time<br />
skipper. Needia has twin 480hp Yanmar diesels and<br />
offers superb high-speed sea keeping abilities that make<br />
for effortless long distance cruising. �e twin Hamilton<br />
water jet propulsion system enables easy manoeuvrability.<br />
£330,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: <strong>Oyster</strong> UK<br />
2005 <strong>Oyster</strong> 56 Into the Blue<br />
Specified by experienced <strong>Oyster</strong> owners, with a view to<br />
long distance, short-handed, bluewater sailing. Hydraulic<br />
furling main, genoa and jib make sail handling a breeze,<br />
whilst below decks she has oak joinery, sleeps six in three<br />
cabins and has a dedicated workshop.<br />
£575,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: <strong>Oyster</strong> UK<br />
2003 <strong>Oyster</strong> 47 Kindness<br />
Kindness is a stunning yacht. One owner from new,<br />
who has lavished care and attention to the boat since<br />
the build process. A joy to sail, fantastic storage and living<br />
space and superb quality too. Only for sale as owner<br />
has purchased a larger <strong>Oyster</strong> to extend his adventures.<br />
£360,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: <strong>Oyster</strong> UK<br />
NEW LISTING<br />
2009 Swan 66 S Planeta<br />
Beautiful example of this sleek, high performance cruiser<br />
with clean deck layout and shallow keel. First class deck<br />
and rig equipment; carbon spars, PBO rigging and<br />
electric winches. She sleeps eight in four cabins and is<br />
very well equipped and comfortable below decks.<br />
€2,950,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: West Med<br />
Please visit the <strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage team at the London Boat Show on the <strong>Oyster</strong><br />
stand, no. H161 in the Boat Hall, where we have the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 575 on show.<br />
We will also have an <strong>Oyster</strong> 46 and an <strong>Oyster</strong> 655 on the water at berth no. M116 & M117.<br />
Please call us ahead of your visit to make an appointment to view these yachts.<br />
Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 100 or email us at brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
We will also be attending Boot Düsseldorf, where we have a new <strong>Oyster</strong> 54<br />
and new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 on show. You will find us on the <strong>Oyster</strong> stand no. C58.<br />
2005 <strong>Oyster</strong> 53 Principessa of London<br />
Specified by an experienced owner with ease of handling<br />
a priority – cutter rigged with electric genoa and in-mast<br />
furling. Superb interior with larger than standard saloon.<br />
Sleeping accommodation comprises two large double<br />
staterooms and a separate workshop/cabin.<br />
£500,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: West Med<br />
2010 <strong>Oyster</strong> 46 Astraeus of Mersea<br />
Astraeus has predominatly been used as <strong>Oyster</strong>’s<br />
demonstrator. She is highly equipped and complete with<br />
many features and upgrades to represent the best of <strong>Oyster</strong>.<br />
Set up for short-handed sailing and in excellent condition,<br />
Astraeus represents significant savings over new.<br />
£550,000 ex VAT<br />
Lying: <strong>Oyster</strong> UK<br />
1988 <strong>Oyster</strong> 55 Arabella<br />
A great example of the classic <strong>Oyster</strong> 55. Constantly<br />
upgraded and maintained by an experienced yachtsman,<br />
she is in very good condition and ready to undertake<br />
many more sea miles. Simple furling rig, and traditional<br />
teak joinery below with eight berths in four cabins.<br />
£275,000 VAT paid<br />
Lying: Channel Islands<br />
WINTER 2011 111
112<br />
On their way...<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54 Babe<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
<strong>Recently</strong> handed over to Paul and Trish Ducker, Babe has a maple interior. Paul and Trish were<br />
very involved with their build visiting the moulders and the Windboats Marine fit out yard many<br />
times during the build, where they made many friends. �ey thoroughly enjoyed the whole<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> experience from start to finish. �ey are amongst the 34 yacht fleet entered for the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally and will keep the boat in the Canary Islands until they depart for the start<br />
in Antigua in January 2013.<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575<br />
Dreamer of Hamble<br />
A�er a spirited handover sail with<br />
gusts of up to 35 knots and heavy<br />
rainsqualls, Dreamer of Hamble<br />
was recently handed over to her<br />
owner Chris Glossop. Whilst it wasn’t<br />
the most pleasant of days, it was an<br />
ideal opportunity to really show off<br />
the yacht’s capabilities in heavy<br />
weather. Just what you need when<br />
she is set to join the World ARC Fleet<br />
setting out from the Canaries this<br />
year. Chris is ready to embark on a<br />
Round �e World Adventure with<br />
three old sailing friends. His family<br />
will join them at various locations<br />
around the world.<br />
“Trish and I had such a wonderful time both watching<br />
Babe being built and equally getting to know you all.<br />
We are so pleased and proud, knowing and seeing<br />
firsthand the craftsmanship, care and attention to detail<br />
that you have all put into making our lifetime dream<br />
a reality – it’s a real testament to you all.” Paul Ducker<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54<br />
Carmenzita<br />
Carmenzita is the second<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 54 to be completed at<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong>’s Norfolk yard, Windboats<br />
Marine and is owned by Herbert<br />
and Carmen Bodner. She is<br />
beautifully fitted out in maple,<br />
with high gloss avonite and a<br />
brown leather interior giving her<br />
a very light and contemporary feel<br />
below decks. Herbert and Carmen<br />
plan to sail her down to the<br />
Mediterranean, via Guernsey,<br />
where they will spend most of their<br />
time, while future cruising plans<br />
may include an Atlantic crossing.
<strong>Oyster</strong> 575 Satika<br />
�omas and Esther Meseck from Switzerland previously<br />
owned a Beneteau 57, which they used extensively for family<br />
sailing, including two Atlantic crossings. �e new <strong>Oyster</strong> 575<br />
Satika (named a�er the Meseck’s three daughters: Sandra,<br />
Tina and Karin) has been planned with a world adventure<br />
in mind and she will spend the winter season in the Balearic<br />
Islands before crossing the Atlantic in 2012 ready to join the<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> World Rally fleet in Antigua.<br />
ON THEIR WAY<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625 Bandido<br />
Handed over to Roger Soukup and Edwin<br />
Samayoa from California in October,<br />
Bandido is a beautiful cutter-rigged<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 625 exquisitely finished in maple with<br />
pale leather upholstery. She is the second<br />
of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625s to be <strong>launched</strong> and<br />
was recently displayed to great acclaim at<br />
the Ijmuiden and Southampton Boat Shows.<br />
Roger and Edwin wanted a boat that was<br />
big enough to enable fast, comfortable<br />
passage-making, but small enough to sail<br />
together, without the need for a crew –<br />
and the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 625 is the perfect<br />
yacht for them. Bandido will join the fleet<br />
of <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong> taking part in this year’s ARC,<br />
before heading to Florida, where she will<br />
be on display at the Miami International<br />
Boat Show in February.<br />
A�er summer on the US East Coast, Roger<br />
and Edwin plan to base Bandido near<br />
their home in California in time to enjoy<br />
the America’s Cup, which will be held in<br />
San Francisco in 2013. Roger and Edwin are<br />
just amazed by Bandido – the way she sails,<br />
the way she looks and the careful attention<br />
to detail that is evident everywhere you look.<br />
<strong>Recently</strong> <strong>launched</strong> <strong><strong>Oyster</strong>s</strong><br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 46 Lovely Jubbly<br />
Having previously owned a Beneteau 40.7,<br />
Steve Knight and his partner Rosanna are now<br />
enjoying spending some time away from work<br />
in the luxury and comfort of their new <strong>Oyster</strong> 46.<br />
Lovely Jubbly was built at <strong>Oyster</strong>’s Landamores<br />
yard and has a beautiful and contemporary<br />
American white oak interior with white upholstery.<br />
Lovely Jubbly will spend the winter in Guernsey<br />
but Steve has long term live-aboard cruising plans<br />
in mind and is hoping to participate in the 2013<br />
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.<br />
WINTER 2011 113
114<br />
OYSTER NEWS<br />
We are grateful to our marine industry suppliers for not only helping us<br />
to build great yachts but also for supporting our events and regattas.<br />
Bespoke quality sails and<br />
canvas work, UK manufactured.<br />
Matthew Vincent<br />
T: +44 (0)1255 243 366<br />
E: sails@dolphin-sails.com<br />
www.dolphinsails.com<br />
International yacht consultants<br />
specialising in yacht management.<br />
Declan O’Sullivan<br />
T: +44 (0)1624 819 867<br />
E: dos@pelagosyachts.com<br />
www.pelagosyachts.com<br />
Performance Masts,<br />
Engineered to Perfection.<br />
T: +31 (0) 527 29 1989<br />
E: info@formula-marine.com<br />
www.formula-marine.com<br />
� e world’s leading<br />
manufacturer in recreational<br />
marine electronics.<br />
Andy Davies<br />
T: +44 (0)23 9271 4700<br />
E: andy.davies@raymarine.com<br />
www.raymarine.com<br />
Leading sailboat and<br />
powerboat hardware supplier<br />
for the leisure marine industry.<br />
Roger Cerrato<br />
T: +44 (0)23 9247 1841<br />
E: rcerrato@lewmar.com<br />
www.lewmar.com<br />
Reefi ng systems<br />
and hydraulics.<br />
Marcus Schuldt<br />
T: +49 (0)41 013 849 27<br />
E: m.schuldt@reckmann.com<br />
www.reckmann.com<br />
Optimal coverage for your yacht,<br />
your assets and your paid crew.<br />
John McCurdy, OBE<br />
T: +44 (0)1752 223 656<br />
E: info@pantaenius.co.uk<br />
www.pantaenius.co.uk<br />
Truly global satellite tracking<br />
for yachts and yacht races.<br />
T: +44 (0)845 619 8252<br />
E: sales@yellowbrick-tracking.com<br />
www.yellowbrick-tracking.com
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine Ltd<br />
Tel: +44 (0)1473 688 888<br />
Sales Team: Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 005<br />
Customer Support: Tel: +44 (0)1473 690 198<br />
Email: yachts@oystermarine.com<br />
www.oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine USA<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage USA<br />
Tel: +1 401 846 7400<br />
Email: info@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine Germany<br />
Tel: +49 40 644 008 80<br />
Email: yachten@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine Palma<br />
Tel: +34 871 703 620<br />
Email: customerservice@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Representatives<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine in Asia<br />
Bart Kimman<br />
Tel: +852 2815 0404<br />
Email: bart.kimman@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine in Australia<br />
Michael Bell<br />
Tel: +61 (0)2 9997 7133<br />
Email: michael.bell@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine in Russia<br />
Oscar Konyukhov<br />
Tel: +7 925 771 29 91<br />
Email: oscar.konyukhov@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Marine in Ukraine<br />
Alex Krykanyuk<br />
Tel: +38 (0)512 580 540<br />
Email: alex.krykanyuk@oystermarine.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Charter<br />
Tel: +1 401 846 7400<br />
Email: molly.marston@oystermarine.com<br />
www.oystercharter.com<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage Ltd<br />
Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 100<br />
Email: brokerage@oystermarine.com<br />
www.oysterbrokerage.com<br />
Southampton Yacht Services Ltd<br />
Tel: +44 (0)23 8033 5266<br />
Email: sales@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk<br />
www.southamptonyachtservices.co.uk
www.oystermarine.com